


Coming Home

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-29
Updated: 2006-02-20
Packaged: 2019-01-19 06:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12404511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: It's been four years since Ginny has seen Harry. He's finally defeated Voldemort and he's coming home. But neither one of them know what to expect, whether they can have a relationship together or not. Anticipation builds as they wait to see each other, for the first time, at his welcome home party.





	1. Anticipation

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

It’s been four long years since Ginny has seen Harry. Four **very** long years. 

 

Today would have started out like any other day. Waiting to see if Harry might return today; waiting to only see that he was still out there fighting. But, today hadn’t started like any other day. For one thing, Ginny was abruptly awoken by her mother at 4 in the morning. Being in a foul mood at first, Ginny tried to wake herself enough to understand what was going on, but it wasn’t working too well. She could barely read the expression on her mother’s face as she sat there on her bed.

 

“Ginny! Ginny, wake up!”�

 

“Mum, what’s going on-“, Ginny said sleepily as Mrs. Weasley quickly continued.

 

“Voldemort-“, Mrs. Weasley started, trying to catch her breath, “…Voldermort’s been defeated. Harry’s done it. We’re all safe now.”� Mrs. Weasley pulled Ginny into a hug, so happy that it was all over and that they wouldn’t have to worry about Voldemort again.

 

Ginny pulled back quickly, “What?! It’s over?”� She stopped suddenly retreating into her own thoughts, _No…_ she resolved… _I’m_ _just dreaming again_.  “Oh, mum. Leave me be with Harry. I’m just dreaming anyway.”�

 

Mrs. Weasley looked perplexed at Ginny for a moment and said, “You’re not dreaming. He’s coming home. It’s over.”�

 

Ginny, still in a state of disbelief and desperately trying to get back to sleep, continued, “yeah, sure Mum. See, you’re really dream Mum pretending to be real Mum pretending to wake me up from a dream that I’m still having about Harry, to tell me I’m not dreaming when I clearly still am at this moment.”� Ginny was confusing herself now.

 

As she started to lie down to go back to sleep, Mrs. Weasley reached over and pinched her on the arm, grabbing a lot of skin. 

 

“OUCH!”� Ginny exclaimed. “That hurt! What did you-”�she said, but paused before continuing. “Hey! That hurt. I’m not dreaming? Harry’s really done it?! He’s coming home?”�

 

“Yes, dear, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”�

 

Ginny jumped out of bed and began pacing around her room, feeling very happy but also, suddenly, very nervous.

 

Mrs. Weasley watched her for a moment before interrupting her pace. “For Merlin’s sake, Ginny, he’s not here right this second. Actually, I’m not exactly sure where he is. I just received an owl from your father. He’s had a late night at the Ministry with Voldemort finally being finished off and all. He expects to be home within the next 2 or 3 hours.”�

 

Mrs. Weasley stood up from Ginny’s bed and walked over to her, placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Well, I just wanted to let you know. You go back to sleep now, dear. I’m sure we’ll see Harry later today.”� She hugged her daughter again and left the room.

 

Ginny stood there in a state of shock. _Harry’s finally free_ , she thought. The first thing in Ginny’s mind was what would it be like between the two of them once he came back?  But, she didn’t know what to think about Harry and her, or if they would even have any kind of relationship again. There was no doubt that Ginny still loved him. And, yes, she had dated a couple different guys since Harry left those many years ago, thinking that she might be able to push him from her mind again. None of those relationships ever lasted more a few weeks, though.  Admittedly, there hadn’t been a day that she didn’t think about Harry. Frankly, she still loved him with every fiber of her being and that was putting it simply. 

 

She would see Harry soon. The more she thought about seeing him, the more butterflies filled her stomach, and she smiled at the thought of drowning in his beautiful green eyes. However, those butterflies quickly turned into knots, wondering if he still loved her, or if he’d even thought about her since he left. 

 

_No…_ she thought. _I’m sure he’s moved on. My name probably hasn’t popped in his head since the last day I saw him. The day that I **had** to say goodbye to him. _  

 

She promptly shook these thoughts out of her head. She didn’t want to think about it right now. She just wanted to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t. His face just kept swimming through her head. 

 

Ginny was in for a very long day.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Ginny had finally managed to drift back off to sleep around two hours later.  Unfortunately, she only managed to get one more hour in before being woke up by the ruckus downstairs. Ginny knew that her father must have arrived a short time ago and by the sounds of it, Fred, George, and Ron decided to come over this morning so that they could get all of the details of Voldemort’s demise.

 

Ginny took her time in getting dressed and going downstairs to join the noisy crowd of Weasleys around the kitchen table.  She didn’t know whether Harry would be down there with them or not.  

 

Now standing in front of her closet, Ginny was having a hard time deciding what to wear. Knowing if Harry would be in her kitchen would help a great deal, but she wasn’t going to risk questioning anyone, for fear of starting another conversation that she didn’t want to delve into this early in the morning.  

 

Deciding it was best to look normal and just wear something simple, Ginny pulled on her favorite pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. At least this way, she could still look like normal Ginny and not receive funny looks from the rest of her family. But, she could also manage to pull off a cute and sexy look if Harry did happen to be downstairs.  

 

After Ginny was dressed, she sat down to brush out her long mane of beautiful red hair, and was a little startled to hear a knock at her door and Hermione’s voice following it.

 

“Ginny, you decent?”�

 

Frowning, Ginny replied, “Hermione? Yeah. Come on in.”�

 

As Hermione came in, Ginny immediately jumped in. “So, I guess you’re here because of the news, yeah?”�

 

“Well, yeah. I got an owl from your mum this morning letting me know that Harry had defeated Voldemort. Is something the matter?”� Hermione finished, noting a particularly skittish look on Ginny’s face.

 

“Wha-? No, I’m ok. Is Harry downstairs?”� She squeaked out. Trying to sound as calm as possible.  

 

“No”� Hermione replied.  “I just got here a few minutes ago and caught everyone in the kitchen, briefly. Since the guys were trying to wiggle every bit of information out of your father, I managed to ask your mum if we should expect Harry soon or if he was already here. She told me that he hadn’t been by yet and didn’t know exactly when he would be.”�

 

Listening to every word carefully, Ginny frowned at Hermione with a questioning look on her face. “I don’t understand. Why hasn’t he come over yet? You’d figure that this would be the first place that he’d want to come to. After all, it is like his home.”�

 

Understanding what the underlying meaning was of Ginny’s last statement, Hermione tried to calm her down. “Ginny, you know that Harry has not forgotten you. I’m sure there is a good reason why he isn’t here right now.  Look, we don’t even know when the whole war ended. It could have been in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe, he’s just back at his flat getting a little needed rest before he gets interrogated by us all.”�

 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I think I’m just being a little selfish right now.”�

 

“No, you’re not.  If I were in your shoes, I’d react the same way. For Merlin’s sake, he’s been gone for four years. You can’t help but want to see him at the very first moment that you have the chance. Honestly, if it was Ron who had been out there for that long, the second he was free, I’d want to snog him senseless.”�

 

“Hermione!”� exclaimed Ginny.

 

“What? I’ve got nothing to hide. It’s the honest truth.”�

 

With renewed spirits, Ginny and Hermione headed downstairs to join the rest of the Weasleys, to catch up on all the news and perhaps find out exactly what Harry was up to at the moment.

 

As they entered the kitchen, Ginny walked over and gave her father a big hug and forced Fred out of the chair he had been sitting in. She wanted to sit next to her father this morning and she wasn’t about to take any guff from her older brothers.

 

Hermione followed Ginny into the room and caught Ron by surprise as she leaned down and kissed him gently on the cheek. She sat in the empty seat next to him and he gently took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and kissing it sweetly. Blushing furiously, she tried to turn her attention back to the conversation.

 

“So, dad, when did the Ministry receive word that it was finally over?”� George asked.

 

Mr. Weasley continued his story, “Well, we found out shortly after 3 this morning. Tonks, Shackelbolt and Lupin brought Harry straight to the Ministry, once they were sure the war was over.”�

 

With a worried look now spreading all over Ginny’s face, she hesitantly asked her father, “Dad, what do you mean they **_brought_** Harry to the Ministry? Was he not capable of getting there on his own?”�  Thoughts began racing through her head. _Surely nothing happened to him… yes, he has to be ok. Dad would have told me if Harry had to have been taken to St. Mungo’s, wouldn’t he?_  Her nerves were really working in overdrive now and everyone could see it.

 

Quickly stepping in, Mr. Weasley explained. “They had to help Harry get back to the Ministry because he was too weak to stand on his own, much less Apparate. We had a few healers from St. Mungo’s waiting there in case anything happened. We didn’t want to cause a big fit if he, or anyone else for that matter, went straight to the hospital. He had a few cuts and bruises, but overall, he was just extremely weakened from his last battle with Voldemort. The healers cast a few healing charms on him and he seemed to be doing much better after a half an hour. But, he was still weak, and he needed his rest.”�

 

“Why didn’t someone tell me that he’d come back injured? I should have been there with him. I should have been by his side. He should have known that I was there.”� Ginny was becoming frantic again. 

 

“Ginny dear, we all would have wanted to be there with him, but he didn’t want anyone to see him in that state, especially you.  And it isn’t that he didn’t want us there, because he did, I just think that he didn’t want everyone to worry over something that he felt wasn’t that big of a deal,”� her father finished.

 

_Not that big of a deal!_ she thought. _I’ll show Harry. He knows that I would’ve wanted to be there no matter what he looked like or what state he was in.  He ought to choke on his pride. Forget being strong for one minute, Harry, and let someone take care of you. Let me take care of you._

 

Saddened by her own thoughts, Ginny finally sighed with relief, at least knowing that he was alright. Relaxing a little, and trying to gain some of her composure, she asked, “So, is he still at the Ministry right now, or is he back at his flat resting?”�

 

“Well,”� continued Mr. Weasley, “the Ministry wanted to question him on everything that happened once he was pretty much taken care of by the healers. But, I told him just to go on home and get some rest, because he really needed it.  He didn’t want to go back to his flat first, he wanted to come here, to the Burrow, but I forced him to go back to his place and get some rest and told him that once he had plenty, he could come over here for a nice long visit.”�

 

Ginny and all of the other Weasleys quite agreed that once he got in a good rest, a long visit with Harry was overdue. However, Mrs. Weasley apparently had plans of her own.

 

“Well, I don’t think he should come over right after he gets plenty of rest. I think it should be a special moment when we see him, for the first time, after these many years. I think we should throw a little welcome home party for him. You know us and a few of his other close friends.  I think he’d quite like that.”� Mrs. Weasley stated.

 

Ginny promptly shot her mother a _very_ disapproving look at the thought of a welcome home party to include anyone but just them and Harry.

 

Mrs. Weasley, ignoring the look she knew she was receiving from her daughter, turned back to speak to Mr. Weasley. “Arthur, would you mind sending a quick owl to Harry to let him know that he is to stay at his flat until 6 o’clock this evening. At that time, he can Apparate here, to the Burrow, to spend some time with us.  But make sure that he understands that he shouldn’t go anywhere between now and coming here tonight.”�

 

“Sure, dear”�, Mr. Weasley said as he stood up from the kitchen table. He walked over to Mrs. Weasley, gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the room so that he could owl Harry.

 

“Well, dears, finish up with your breakfast. I’ll need everyone’s help to get things ready for the party tonight.”�

 

“Mum,”� Ron piped in finally. “You said this was just going to be us, Harry, and a _few_ of his close friends right?”�

 

“Of course, Ron. Well, let’s see, we have to invite Tonks, Lupin, Shacklebolt, and Hagrid. And we can’t do without inviting Neville and Luna, Dean, Seamus…”� Mrs. Weasley continued to name off people.

 

Everyone at the table exchanged looks, and they all knew that this would be no close intimate “welcome home”� party. By the time Mrs. Weasley was through, they’d probably have at least 60 people there. Hermione glanced down the table at Ginny, who now looked absolutely crushed by her mother’s plans. She flashed an apologetic smile across her face, but it didn’t help.  

 

Ginny decided to make herself busy with getting things ready for tonight. All she had wanted to do since her mother woke her up this morning was to see Harry. Right now, she really didn’t care to share him with all of these people. She just had to bite her tongue and let her mother throw this party for him. But Ginny was sure of one thing, if she was going to have to tolerate a crowd of people that would be smothering Harry all night, she was determined that she’d make Harry _very_ aware that she had walked into a room.

 

\----------------------------------

 

Harry woke to small tapping noise on the window in his bedroom.  He lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes and reached over to pick up his glasses from the night table next to his bed.

 

Stretching as he stood up, he yawned and walked over to his window. He then realized that it was Pig, the Weasley’s little hyperactive owl. Harry took the letter from its leg and opened it, adjusting his eyes so that he could read properly.

 

It was a letter from Mr. Weasley saying that he should stay at his flat until 6 o’clock this evening, at which time he could apparate to the Burrow. And, under no circumstances, should he go anywhere else between now and then. 

 

Harry rolled his eyes. This was Mrs. Weasley’s doing. He just knew it. He bet that she was planning a welcome home party for him and when she throws a party, she _really_ throws a party.

 

This certainly isn’t what Harry wanted. But, he didn’t want to break Mrs. Weasley’s heart.  

 

All he wanted to do was spend time with his best friend’s family and Hermione.  Actually, he really wouldn’t mind spending some quality time with Ginny, but he still didn’t know the status on their relationship.  He was quite sure that after 4 years, she’d either be engaged or married by now.  He was really hoping that he wasn’t right on either of those thoughts.

 

Even though he was still quite tired, all he wanted to do was see Ginny’s warm, smiling face. That’s all he’d been dreaming about for the past 4 years.  He’d actually been writing letters to Ginny, while he was away.  Usually they were only a line or two. Enough to say that he was ok and that he missed her and to ask how she was doing.  But he could never send them to her for fear of endangering her, and he swore that he would never let anything happen to her.

 

All he wanted was to be home. After many years, the Burrow was like his home. But he wanted to be home with her. That’s all he’d wanted since the day that he realized he loved her. She was his home. She is and always will be. 

 

Harry couldn’t help but love her. She deserved so much more than someone who would stay away from her for 4 years without writing to her. She deserved someone so much better than him. But, he had to know if she still loved him or even if she could ever love him again.

 

Harry didn’t quite think he’d be able to make until tonight to see her.  As of matter of fact, he knew he wouldn’t be able to wait until then. So, he decided that he’d just pop over quickly. Not long enough for anyone to notice that he was there. Just long enough to see her, without her seeing him.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

Ginny had been helped her mother in the kitchen all morning. Even though she didn’t like to cook, she definitely had her mother’s talent.  Considering that everyone else was busy taking care of other things around the house, she decided to help her mum, even though she was still quite upset at this party idea of hers.

 

After four hours in the kitchen, Ginny was getting quite tired of it all and she desperately needed a break. She told her mum that she was going to go down to the pond for a quick swim to relax and then she’d come back in to help finish things up.

 

Pulling on her two piece suit, Ginny headed down to the pond for a little peace and quiet.  She laid her towel on the ground in a well lit area, knowing that she would enjoy sunbathing after her swim.  

 

She took a cautious step into the cool water and then quickly submerged herself, hoping to avoid being cold for any longer than she had to be. She was quite enjoying this. It was so very relaxing. Her day had been far too stressful and it wasn’t even half of the way over.

 

She continued her swim when she suddenly heard a noise. A snap, maybe, coming from behind the trees. She looked in the direction from where the noise had come from and a small bird walked out. Ginny sighed with relief. She had begun to feel a bit nervous because she had left her wand lying on her towel. Thankful it was only a bird, she silently cursed as she noticed that her hair had now gotten wet. She had desperately been trying to not get it wet. _So much for that_ , she thought. She quickly ducked her head under the water and then popped back up, getting all of her hair wet now. She thought she might as well since a little bit was already wet.

 

Ginny decided to go on and get out of the pond so that she could enjoy the warm sun drying off her skin and hair. Besides, soon she would need to get back to the house to help finish getting everything ready and to get herself ready. After all, her goal was to make Harry notice every time she walked into a room. For that matter, she needed to make sure that he didn’t take his eyes off of her.  To Ginny, this was going to be a bit of a task. She didn’t think she was much of anything to look at. _But, if Harry had noticed me before, surely he would notice me again_ , she thought.

 

As she laid there on her towel, she was trying to think of exactly what she would wear tonight. She tried to remember every piece of clothing that she had, thinking, _no… no… no…_ She was beginning to get a little annoyed. _Do I have anything that will shock him so much that he’ll forget to breathe?_ She tried to remember more of her wardrobe, _no… no…ah! Bingo!_ Finally, she’d found exactly what she wanted to wear. Why wasn’t it the first thing that had popped into her head?  It was a new dress that she’d gotten a few weeks ago, but had never worn. When she and Hermione had eyed it in the store, she just had to get it. Plus, she didn’t really feel that this dress was for anyone but him to see. 

 

Realizing that she was getting a bit warm from being in the sun for a while, Ginny stood up, pulled on her jeans and shirt, and headed back for the house.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Harry pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  Snatching up his wand quickly, he apparated to the Burrow. As he snuck around to the kitchen window, he heard humming.  It was Mrs. Weasley working furiously to prepare a meal big enough for a kingdom. Harry didn’t see Ginny anywhere. He thought she might be in the kitchen helping her mother, but to his surprise, she wasn’t.  Mrs. Weasley stopped humming and called to Hermione.  She came walking into the kitchen, noticing the load of work that Mrs. Weasley had gotten herself into. 

 

“Dear, would you be kind enough to help me finish getting a few more things ready?”� Mrs. Weasley asked.

 

“Sure. I would’ve come in earlier if I’d realized that Ginny wasn’t in here helping you.”�

 

“Well, she was, but she’s been working in here since first thing this morning and she needed a bit of a break. So, she decided to go for a quick swim in the pond.  She should be back shortly, but I only need a little more help to get things finished.”� Mrs. Weasley said, beginning to feel quite exhausted herself.

 

“It’s not a problem, Mrs. Weasley. I’d be glad to help you.”� Hermione replied and she quickly began working her way around the kitchen.

 

Knowing, now, exactly where Ginny was, Harry apparated into the woods, near the pond.  He walked cautiously, trying not to snap a twig or rustle too many leaves for fear of making his presence known to her.  

 

He reached the pond and managed to stay hidden behind some of the trees that were skirting the area.  And suddenly, there she was. She had just found a particularly well lit spot to lay her towel. He noticed, quickly, that she was slipping out of her jeans and shirt, revealing her swim suit. She folded her clothes and laid them next to her towel and then walked over to the pond.

 

She stepped in slowly, taking in the temperature of the water. Harry imagined that it was probably a bit cool because of the shiver that she gave. He suppressed a chuckle at the sight. She looked so cute as she stepped in the water the rest of the way.  

 

He watched as she swam around a little, not fully submerging herself under the water. From the looks of it, he thought she was trying not to get her hair wet. _So far, so good,_ he thought.

 

She continued swimming. He knew she must have been enjoying it, because he caught her closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh air around her. Her morning must have been very hard on her because Harry heard her continually taking deep breaths and letting out long, drawn out sighs. He longed to be near her, to hold her. To show her just how much he cared for her.  

 

Without paying careful attention, he inched forward and stepped on a twig. Snap! _Oh God!_ , he thought. _I’m busted_.  He saw her turn her head in his direction. _Oh, please…oh please…don’t notice me…don’t notice_.  Thinking quickly, he mumbled a spell, conjuring a bird. It walked out between the trees and Harry noticed her relax. But then, he suddenly heard her utter a quiet curse. She got her hair wet. He had to suppress another chuckle. After she probably thought, _shove it_ , he saw her dive under the water completely and then come back to the surface. Her soft red hair now turned into a dark auburn color.  

 

He continued watching her as she stepped out of the water and walked over to lie down on her towel.  He was truly enjoying this moment. Watching her take in slow deep breaths and thoroughly enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin, he saw her frown a little, but then suddenly, a sweet but very mischievous smile spread across her face.

 

Oh how he loved her. But, he was certain that she didn’t feel the same way about him any longer. Not after all this time had passed.  With the thought of that smile on her face, he apparated back to his flat, deciding to see if he might be able to get a little more rest this afternoon before heading back to the Burrow tonight.

 

\--------------------------------------

 

Ginny was running a bit behind.  Shortly after she had come back from her swim, she finished helping her mum and Hermione in the kitchen.  Then, the girls took to decorating the house with floating candles and lanterns and bewitching the ceiling to look like the sky, just like at Hogwarts.  Hermione told Ginny that she’d take care of making the back yard and garden look especially nice, in case anyone wanted to take a nice little walk around outside.  Of course, Ginny knew exactly what Hermione was hinting at. Without a doubt, they were both hoping for the same thing to happen.

 

She had managed to rush upstairs to get a shower before all of the boys headed up with the same idea.  She slipped on her dress and smoothed out any imperfections.  Eying herself in the mirror, she thought, _well, not half bad, Weasley. Now for the more daunting task, my hair_.

 

She fussed while trying to manage some sort of style. She was having a bit of a hard time deciding. _Up or down_ , she thought.  _From what I remember, and if it still holds some truth, Harry loved running his fingers through my hair. But, that was years ago, and I always look so very young when I wear my hair down. Hmm… well if I wear it up, I could show Harry that I’m not a little girl anymore and that I can make my own decisions about my life, regardless of what my nosy brothers always said. Plus, it shows off my long neck_. 

 

Deciding that an up-do was the way to go, she used her wand to charm her hair up into a French twist and then curled the ends of her hair, so that the curls would cascade down around the twist. She had decided to leave a few loose strands of hair around the nape of her neck and one longer strand in the front. She quickly curled the loose strands that were hanging.

 

Noticing the time, she sat down on her bed to slip on the beautiful strap heels that she’d bought the day they got the dress. A single strap across the toes with a gorgeous bejeweled design on it and then one strap that buckled around the ankle was all that her shoes consisted of. She thought to herself, _simple but elegant_. 

 

She stood up, walking over to the mirror, and stumbled a little in her shoes, having not worn heels in quite some time.  She looked at her image carefully, trying to make sure that everything looked as good as it possibly could. _I hope I make him weak in the knees_ , she thought, that mischievous smile appearing on her face again.  

 

There was a small knock on the door, and Hermione poked her head in Ginny’s room.  

 

“Hey, Ginny. You about rea-… Wow!”� Hermione stopped in her tracks.

 

“Do I look ok?”� Ginny said, becoming very fidgety and suddenly trying to straighten out each and every wrinkle that _wasn’t_ in the dress.

 

“ _Do you look ok?_! Honey, you look bloody fantastic!”�

 

Ginny blushed slightly. “I think Ron is rubbing off on you a bit much.”�

 

“I could have told you that ages ago.”�

 

“But, everything does look alright, right? Do you think Harry will like it?”� Ginny asked.

 

“The only thing that you’ll need to be concerned with about Harry is making sure that you know how to revive him, because he will _definitely_ forget how to breathe.”�

 

On that note, Ginny giggled, finally feeling a bit of stress lifted from her shoulders.  She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

 

“Well, now that you’re ready, we need to get you downstairs. All of the guests are here and Harry should be arriving in the next minute. Your mum sent me up to get you.”� Hermione said, turning to walk out the door.

 

“You go on ahead. I’ll be right down. There’s just one more thing that I need to do.”� 

 

“Alright. See you in a bit.”� Hermione closed the door as she left Ginny’s room.

 

Before she forgot, Ginny picked up her perfume bottle and lightly sprayed the scent, strategically placing it on her skin. She wanted Harry to long for the smell of her. And, this was sure to draw him in.  

 

She didn’t make it downstairs in enough time to welcome Harry home first. Her mother seemed to reach the door in one swift movement almost knocking him over with a forceful hug.  Ginny had paused on the second floor before walking down the final flight of stairs. 

 

There he was, after four long years.  He still looked the same, but different at the same time, if that was even possible. Her heart skipped a beat as she took in the beautiful sight of him. His green eyes, his always messy, raven hair.  _Ok… here we go_ , Ginny thought. She took in a deep breath and walked down the stairs.  

 

Mrs. Weasley had finally released Harry from her overwhelming hug and had managed to say, with great enthusiasm, “Welcome Home, Harry”�, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something and looked up.  His heart stopped. He couldn’t breathe. There she was, gliding down the steps, and as she neared even closer to the bottom, Ginny spoke. “Yes, Harry. Welcome Home.”�

 

\-------------------------------

 

Harry only managed to knock on the front door twice, when Mrs. Weasley flung the door open. She pulled him into a tight hug, making it very hard for him to breathe. After a minute, he was able to pull away, giving her kind, appreciate smile and receiving a beaming smile in return.  

 

She spoke quite loudly saying, “Welcome Home, Harry.”� And as he opened his mouth to say “thanks, it’s good to be home,”� he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

 

As if in extreme slow motion, he glanced up and watched Ginny slowly walking down the stairs. He moved his head, taking in the image of her completely. She was wearing dainty little heels with just enough material to keep them on her feet.  His eyes traveled up her legs, making his way up her waist and torso to see the dress that she had chosen. It was a knee length, strapless red dress. The bodice clung to her tightly and as the dress reached her hips, it flared out into a full, flowing skirt that swished back and forth each time she swung her hips.  

 

Harry felt his mouth drop open even more; his stare, at last, making his way to her face. Her skin was slightly flushed and he felt himself turn pink, in return.  He noticed that she was wearing her hair up tonight. Personally, he’d always preferred it being down because he loved running his fingers through it.  But, he certainly wasn’t complaining about this new look.  He loved how the curls spilled over her twist.  He lovingly noticed the few loose curls that she’d let hang down over her neck and the one long curl that hung down on the side of her face.  He thought that it all made her look positively radiant, reflecting the beautiful woman that she had become.

 

Oh God, he thought he was going to die right there, until he looked into her deep brown eyes. They glistened in the soft light of the room and he suddenly saw a shy smile appear on her face.  He could barely hear her say, “Yes, Harry. Welcome Home.”� When his heart stopped at the sound of her voice. It sent shivers up and down his spine and thousands of goosebumps creeping across his skin.

 

His mouth was still hanging wide open. Harry tried to form the words. They were on the tip of his tongue but no sound was coming out. He’d suddenly forgotten how to breathe.  

 

Standing there, frozen in one spot, Harry saw a concern look come across Ginny’s face.  He heard the muffled sound of her calling his name, “Harry? Harry, are you alright?”�

 

Somehow regaining his ability to function properly, he took in a deep breath and one word came stammering out of his mouth, “Gin-… Ginny…”�

 

She flashed him a bright smile when she realized that he seemed to be ok.

 

As she walked a little closer to him, he took a deep breath smelling a light fragrance that seemed to float around her. It smelled like strawberries and champagne. He smiled as he took in another deep breath of her and suddenly his knees became weak. His heart was racing and he felt his skin growing hotter. 

 

Out of nowhere, Ron and Hermione came rushing over.  Hermione squeezed him and gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. “Oh, Harry. We’ve all missed you terribly.  It’s about time you came home to us all.”�

 

Hermione had caught him by surprise and he shook his head trying to muster some kind of clear thought. Seeing Ginny, especially the way she was looking tonight, had left Harry in a bit of a daze. He looked over at Hermione and gave her a humble smile. With a raspy voice, he said, “thanks. I’m glad to finally be home.”� He glanced over at Ginny again who was now talking to her mother and he smiled at just the thought of her saying his name.

 

Whack! That was the next thing that Harry felt, turning to see that Ron had swiftly hit him across the back. “Mate, it’s good to see you!!  I know I saw you not too long ago, but you are still a sight for sore eyes.”�

 

“Yeah, we’ve missed bugging the stew out of you”� bellowed Fred.

 

“But in all seriousness…”� began George.

 

“Since when were you guys ever serious?”� Hermione asked.

 

“I’ll have you know that we can be.”� George said.

 

“Yeah, that’s right,”� echoed Fred.

 

As the three of them carried on with the friendly bickering, the crowd around Harry began to grow, as everyone flocked to his side.  Several people were yelling out, “we’ve missed you”� and “glad your back to stay”�; he was becoming a bit annoyed with all the meaningless fuss that everyone was putting on. He definitely wished that Mrs. Weasley hadn’t invited all of these people over.

 

Looking around for her familiar face, Harry noticed that he couldn’t seem to find Ginny anywhere. _She was just here_ , he thought. He longed for them to be in the same room with each other.  He was tired of always being so far away from her and he realized that he wanted to keep her by his side, forever.  

 

Somehow managing to escape the crowd of people that had been smothering him, Harry walked around the corner heading towards the kitchen.  He stopped just short of walking in when he heard a man’s voice speaking to someone.  Peeking in, he saw Dean Thomas put his hand on the small of Ginny’s back and heard him say, “I’ve missed you, Ginny.”�

 

Harry quickly turned around trying to get himself as far away the kitchen as possible.  He couldn’t stand the thought of Dean being with Ginny.  He knew it, somehow. He knew that if she was with anyone it would either be Dean or Neville, and honestly, if it couldn’t be him, he’d rather it be Neville than Dean.  Harry’s blood began to boil just thinking about Dean touching her. _Ugh!_ , he thought. _No, this can’t be… it just can’t be this way_.  Shaking his head, he returned to the crowded sitting room where he spotted Neville and Luna on one of the couches and sat down next to them.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Ginny adored Harry. There was just no other way of putting it.  She smiled shyly at him, desperately trying to suppress a giggle from the look that she saw on his face.  He was just standing there with his mouth hanging wide open.  _Oh yeah_ , she thought, _this dress was definitely doing the trick_.

 

She noticed that he wasn’t moving at all, and she started to get a little worried about him. The first thought that popped in her head was, _Oh god… I didn’t mean I wanted to take his breath away literally! Dangit, Hermione, you jinxed me._  Walking closer to him, she said, “Harry? Harry, you alright?”�

 

Her mother quickly shot her a look that clearly said, “What did you do to him?”�

 

At long last, she heard him stumble over saying her name and she smiled brightly knowing that he was ok. 

 

She walked a little closer to him. She saw a smile come across his face and just as she was close enough to give him a hug, Ron and Hermione came over, followed by Fred and George.  Ginny rolled her eyes, _great, now I’m never going to get a minute with him. He probably won’t even notice me whenever I walk in the room. So much for your brilliant plan, Weasley_.  

 

Ginny walked over to her mother and said, “Mum, I’m going to go to the kitchen to get some drinks and bring them out for everyone.”�

 

“Ok dear,”� Mrs. Weasley replied. “Do you need one of your brothers to help you?”�

 

“No, Mum, I’ve got it.”� Ginny said as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. 

 

She was oblivious to the fact that Dean Thomas had followed her into the kitchen, as she walked over to the counter and began filling some small glasses with a wonderful muggle concoction called punch.  Hermione had given them the idea to do punch instead of spending so much money on all the butterbeer. They decided to buy a few cases just in case someone didn’t like the muggle drink. Ginny, admittedly, liked the taste of this “punch”�, but if she had to choose, she’d still go with the butterbeer.  

 

While her thoughts had gotten a bit carried away with punch and butterbeer, she didn’t realize that someone was behind her until she felt a hand touch the small of her back. She shivered a little and gave a half smile when she heard a man’s voice say, “I’ve missed you, Ginny.”� 

 

Putting down the glass that was in her hand, she slowly started to turn around and say “I’ve missed you too”�, when she realized that she was now standing face to face with Dean.  

 

Rolling her eyes and huffing, “Dean, what do you think you’re doing?”� Ginny was more than a little upset. She’d thought, by the touch, it might be Harry. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy with who it actually was.

 

“I saw you after you came down those steps and I thought, ‘God, you’re beautiful.’ I just had to come see you.”� Dean replied.

 

“Well, think again and retrace your steps out of the kitchen, now!”� 

 

“But Ginny, I’ve missed being with you. Don’t you miss me?”� Dean pleaded.

 

“NO!  If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. The relationship that we had was years ago. It’s over! And, it’s been over for a very _VERY_ long time. Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.”� Ginny’s temper was flaring up and her face was now a little more than red.

 

“But-…but Ginny…”� Dean was producing his most pathetic puppy dog face now.

 

“I swear, Dean, if you ‘but Ginny’ me one more time, I’m going to _knock_ you on your butt.”�

 

Heeding her words, Dean went to leave the kitchen and Ginny turned back to the counter to finish getting the drinks.

 

Ginny heard his footsteps stop and him take in a loud breath. Being fed up with him completely and not wanting to hear another word, she swung around with her wand in hand and swiftly hit him with a spell on his backside. Dean turned around abruptly giving her a shocked look and she spoke through clenched teeth, “I said _no… more… buts_.”�

 

She almost died laughing as she saw him scamper out of the kitchen. Sometimes she surprised herself.  She couldn’t help it.  She’d put up with Dean’s crap for a long time and she wanted an end to it all, even more so, now that Harry was back.

 

Ginny finished up in the kitchen and walked back toward the sitting room with the drinks in hand.  She noticed Harry sitting by Neville and Luna on the couch. He seemed to be busily talking with them and thought if she knew Neville and Luna, which she did, she’d never get a chance to be alone with Harry.  _Your plan failed miserably, Ginevra. Call the time of death._   She hated it when her own conscious called her by her full first name.


	2. Wrong Conclusions

  


Harry was starting to feel a little sick at his stomach thinking about Dean and Ginny. He hung his head trying to get the queasy feeling to go away. He couldn’t keep feeling like this. For heaven’s sake, he loved the girl. _I’ve got to do something_ , he thought.

   


Without warning, he heard Neville’s very chipper voice in his ear. “HARRY! It’s good to have you back, mate. I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t be able to talk to you all night, the way that crowd had swarmed around you. How are you feeling? Did you get plenty of rest today?”

   


“Honestly, Neville…no, not really.  I managed to get a few hours of sleep but that was about all.  But, right now, I’m not feeling so great.” Harry spoke slowly, finding it hard to get the words out.

   


“Oh…do you need to lie down or something? Luna and I can help you upstairs to one of the bedrooms, if you’d like to lie down, in peace?” Neville asked sincerely.

   


“Thanks Neville, but I’m ok right here, I just don’t feel like moving.”

   


“Gosh, Harry, you look as pale as ghost. Let me get you something to drink, to see if it’ll help settle you any.” Neville spotted Ginny, as she entered the sitting room, passing out drinks and waved her over. “Oi, Ginny. Can I get a drink for Harry, here?”

   


_Oh god…not right now…please, not right now_ , Harry thought.  _I’m not guaranteed to control my own tongue after what I saw between her and Dean_. Harry whispered to him, “Neville, it’s ok, I’m fine, really.” 

   


Whispering back, Neville said, “nonsense. You need something.”

   


Ginny walked over to where the three of them were sitting and she noticed that Harry was a bit pale. She looked at Neville, her eyes questioning what had happened.  “Sure, Neville.”

   


“Harry’s just uh…feeling a little uneasy right now. I thought a drink might help him, don’t you think so?”

   


“Yeah, I guess, it couldn’t hurt.” Now directing her attention to Harry, “do you want punch or butterbeer?” 

   


Harry was trying desperately not to hear her. He ignored her voice as much as he could.  But then, there was a small touch on his arm, and as he glanced up, he saw that Ginny had knelt down in front of him, to see if he was ok.  “Harry?”

   


He felt his wall fade away as he looked into her brown eyes. “Yeah?” he sighed.

   


“I said would you like punch or butterbeer? Hermione gave me the recipe for the punch; it has a bit of a fruity taste to it.” Ginny asked as she wiped away some of the hair out of his eyes.

   


“Punch is fine.” 

   


Ginny handed Harry a small cup of punch and shivered as their fingers touched. She tried to give him an understanding smile, but he was avoiding her eye contact.  She thought it was a bit odd. Not five minutes ago she had him weak in the knees and breathless. Now, he would hardly look at her. She saw Harry trying to take a drink of his punch, but his hand was shaking roughly. 

   


“Here,” she said as she reached out and took the cup from his hand, “let me help you.”  She held the cup up to his lips and watched as he slowly opened his mouth. She tilted the cup, allowing him to get a drink of the punch. Seeing him swallow, she asked, “How was that? Helping any?”

   


“A little,” Harry muttered.

   


Not being quite convinced, Ginny sat down her tray of drinks and flicked her wand, making a damp wash clothe appear in her hand.  She took it and patted his forehead gently, wiping away a few beads of sweat.  “Here,” she said, handing the damp clothe to him, “keep this on your forehead for a little while and make sure that you drink the rest of your punch. It ought to help you feel a little better.” 

   


She smiled kindly at him as he took the damp clothe and his drink from her.  “Thank you,” Harry said, as she stood up.

   


“Anytime…really.” Ginny turned to Neville as she picked up her tray of drinks, “you two let me know how he’s doing, if I don’t get a chance to make my way back over here soon.” Ginny smiled at Harry again and walked away with her hips swaying, causing her dress to swish softly.

   


He watched as she walked away and then slumped back into the couch again.  Sighing deeply, he took a long sip of his punch and then laid the damp clothe on his forehead.

   


After a few minutes, Harry had finished off his punch and his once damp clothe had now begun to dry. He had to admit, though, he was feeling a little better.

   


“Neville… can I ask you a question?” He spoke slowly, carefully thinking over exactly what and how he wanted to ask him about Ginny.

   


“Sure, Harry. Shoot away…” Neville said with a tender smile.

   


Taking in a deep breath, he bit his lip and then blurted it out, “Is Ginny with Dean right now?”

   


“Umm…no, she’s with Fred. See? Right over there.” Neville said pointing in their direction.

   


“No, Neville,” Harry felt his temper beginning to slip. He stopped trying to calm himself. “I mean is Ginny seeing Dean right now? As in, are they in a _relationship_ together?”

   


Now understanding him, Neville said, “Ooohhhh… No! Absolutely not.”

   


Harry sighed with great relief, but wanting to make sure, he pressed the question further. “Neville, you’re _sure_ she’s not seeing Dean?”

   


Neville chuckled a little and Harry had to admit that he didn’t remember seeing him do much of that in all of the years that they attended Hogwarts together.

   


“Harry, I’m quite sure. I’d certainly know if Ginny was seeing Dean.  But, ever since she broke things off with him back before you two got together in school, she’s had to deal with his pestering, constantly. Matter of fact, she’s had several rows with him since then.  I think I overheard her saying something to Hermione, earlier, about Dean hitting on her again tonight. And from the sound of things, it didn’t end up to well for Dean. She must have hit him with some kind of spell, just look at his pants; they look like they’ve been burned.” Neville pointed towards Dean, who definitely had a burn spot on the back of his pants.

   


Harry and Neville enjoyed a good laugh together, finding it very hard to keep from drawing unnecessary attention to them.  They both sat back on the couch, trying to catch their breath from laughing so hard.

   


As they sat there enjoying the silence between the two of them, realization slowly dawned on Harry.  He must have reached the kitchen just shortly after Dean had walked in.  He saw exactly how Dean had “hit on” Ginny and wondered how she’d felt and what was said after he had made his move on her.  His blood was climbing to the boiling point again.

   


He felt terrible now, remembering how he had shrugged Ginny off earlier, hardly saying a word to her. How could he have been such a fool to think that Ginny would have gone back to Dean?  Not wanted to be painted the fool again, Harry turned his head toward Neville.  “Neville, I’ve got another question.”

   


“Ask away.” 

   


“Is Ginny seeing anyone right now? I mean to say…is she involved with anyone?” Harry asked, swallowing hard.

   


Knowing it was coming, Neville gave a small knowing smile to Harry.  “Since you’ve been gone, she’s only dated a few guys, but none of them were ever serious.  At the present moment, I believe she is currently single.  Plus, I think she’s kind of had her heart set on one guy in particular and I don’t think anything is going to come in between the two of them. Other than their own misguided judgments of each other,” he added amusingly.

   


“Huh?... Who’s the guy that she has her heart set on?” Harry asked, feeling his skin grow hot. Here he thought he’d made it safely out of the woods after hearing about the whole ‘Dean’ situation.

   


“You’ll have to ask her about the guy that she has in mind. She hasn’t told me anything for sure but, I think I have a pretty good idea.” Neville found it so amusing. Harry and Ginny had been dancing around each other all night, afraid that the other had moved on.  He heard Harry snicker. “What’s so funny?”

   


“Oh…nothing. I’m just…I’m such a fool, Neville. How could I have left her? I’ve been gone and now it’s too late.” He paused briefly and said,”…I’m too late.” Harry rested his head in his hands _. How had it come to this?,_ he thought.

   


Neville opened his mouth to say something but, before he could get anything out, Harry started again. “I knew it. I knew that she’d either be seeing someone or engaged or something. I even thought that if it was anyone, it would either be Dean or you-“

   


Neville choked at the mention of him in a relationship with Ginny. Neville stuttered through a small laugh, “You thought that Ginny and I would be…” Neville began to laugh again. 

   


Harry thought he quite liked the laughing Neville compared to somber Neville, but right now was a bit of an inappropriate time to be laughing.  “What?  It’s not so hard to fathom, Neville.”

   


“Well, yeah…it is.” Neville said through a half smile. “Harry… Ginny and I have only ever been friends.  I mean, sure…we’ve gone out together, but only as friends and nothing more. Besides,” he now said beaming, “I have someone.”

   


Harry frowned, his eyes searching Neville’s face. “Who do you _have_ , Neville?”

   


He was now sitting up straight and puffing out his chest, trying to make himself very manly. “I have my Luna,” Neville said as he turned to her and placed a loving kiss on her cheek.

   


Harry’s eyes grew wide and he felt his mouth drop open. “You and Luna? I- well, I… how come you didn’t say anything to me sooner?”

   


“Well, Harry… I didn’t think you’d want me chatting your ear off about us when you looked so ill.”

   


Harry really did appreciate not having to listen to an endless conversation when he was so queasy. “Thanks, Neville. You’re a real stand up guy. You know that?”

   


Neville chuckled, “Luna likes to tell me that every once in a while, don’t you?”

   


Luna had been buried in one of her father’s papers since Harry sat down. “Hmm? Oh. Absolutely…you are my one and only gentlemen, Nevi.” Luna leaned over and kissed him full on the lips. Then, just as soon as she’d looked up from her paper, she had her nose in it again. “Harry,” she said from behind her paper, “remind me to get a subscription set up for you, now that you’re back. Hey… here’s the story about you. Did you know that Voldemort had 7 heads and you had to chop off every one of them before you finally finished him off?”

   


Harry rolled his eyes and ignored the last question that Luna had muttered; hoping that she wouldn’t notice that he didn’t answer her. He looked at Neville again, “so…Nevi, is it?”

   


Neville blushed furiously. “It’s just her short name for me.”

   


“Hey…at least I didn’t openly call you-“ Luna was cut short by Neville, kissing her deeply.

   


Harry chuckled, wondering exactly what nickname she really had for Neville, in quiet corners and behind closed doors.  But, as he saw them sitting there, holding hands, he decided he was getting a little tired of their lovey-dovey-ness.  He swept his eyes over the room, deciding that a nice quiet chat with Ginny was long overdue.  

   


He was having no luck finding her. Harry got up and walked over to where Hermione and Ron were.  “Hey guys, have you seen Ginny lately?”

   


Ron piped in, “oh! I see how it is. You spend a good hour talking to Neville and Luna and now you want to find Ginny and not talk with us, your best friends, at all?”

   


“Oh stuff it, Ron. We’ll get to spend plenty of time with him once everyone gets out of here, tonight. Besides, I think Ginny would like to see you, Harry. She’s only got a chance to talk to you for a second.” Hermione said now looking at Harry. “Oh…but I’m not sure where she has run off to. She said she needed to go get something, but I had Fred and George bickering at my side when she said something to me. Sorry, Harry.”  

   


“That’s alright. I’ll see if I can find her. It shouldn’t be that hard.” Turning to Ron, before he walked away, Harry said, “Just keep your pants on, Ron. I won’t be gone too long and I’ll spend some quality time with you both.  With any luck, all these people will be gone by then, too.”

   


Harry roamed around the house looking for Ginny and still wasn’t having any luck finding her. Deciding that he was just going to be lazy, he apparated up to the hallway, right outside of Ginny’s room. He knocked a few times and called after her, “Ginny?”  He waited a few moments but never heard anything. He turned the doorknob and opening the door, he noticed that Ginny wasn’t in her room. A little agitated, he apparated back downstairs, to the kitchen. She wasn’t in here either. He was just about to leave the kitchen when a glimpse of red caught the corner of his eye.  She was in the backyard just staring up at the sky.  

   


Harry didn’t know about her, but he needed a drink, and a butterbeer sounded right up his alley, after drinking that punch.  It’s was ok…but he preferred the other.

   


Grabbing a couple bottles of butterbeer, he walked over to the back door and quietly stepped outside.  He didn’t want Ginny to notice that he was there, quite yet.  He was enjoying this view of her way too much to say anything. 

   


Lights had been placed all around the backyard and the garden, and the glow was softly illuminating her fair skin.  He smiled as he took in the sight of her in the gorgeous red party dress.  He always thought that a redhead wearing red might clash, but amazingly, it didn’t at all, at least not on her.  In all honesty, he thought that she was the sexiest thing that he had ever laid his eyes on.  His heart fluttered and he felt his skin grow warm.  He saw that she had taken her heels off, probably not wanting to get them dirty, being outside, that, and probably because she just got tired of wearing them.  

   


Harry wondered what she was finding so fascinating, as she looked up at the star filled sky and he decided to finally break the silence.  “Now, this just makes me wonder, what is it up there that is so interesting, that you decided it was better than talking to me?”

   


\-----------------------------------

   


Ginny was growing tired of the dull conversations that had been going around the room.  She’d been hanging around Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, since right after she finished passing out the drinks.  

   


She had been itching to tell Hermione what had just happened with Dean, in the kitchen.  Ginny had the whole lot of them rolling with laughter and constantly looking over at Dean to admire the burn spot on his backside.  

   


But now, Fred and George were incessantly bickering with Hermione about one thing or another, and she just longed for a little peace and quiet. She’d been trying to pry Hermione’s attention from the cat fight for the last ten minutes. “Hermione…” That wasn’t working.  Poking her on the arm, Ginny said again, “Hermione…”  Still, she wasn’t having any luck.  Being more than tired of waiting on her friend to listen to what she had to say, Ginny poked her again, quite forcefully now, and spoke louder, “Hermione!”

   


“Huh? YEAH! What?” Hermione said, clearly having no idea why Ginny was poking her in the arm.

   


“Hermione….I’m going to…wooo, _yoohoo_ , HEY!” Ginny had already lost Hermione’s attention.

   


“Yeah, what? I’m listening.”

   


“I’m going to grab a blanket and head out to the backyard. I think it’s time for a nice quiet walk around. Hermione? Did you hear me?” Hermione’s attention span usually short circuited whenever she was around Fred and George.  She was determined to show them the error of their ways, or… just to prove how completely dimwitted they always were. “Oh… nevermind.” Ginny muttered as she walked upstairs to grab a blanket from her room.

   


A minute later, Ginny walked outside and looked up into the sky. It was a clear night and the stars were twinkling everywhere.  She could get used to this feeling.  No impending danger around, starry nights, and having Harry home. She breathed deeply, taking in the sweet night air. She was happier than she’d been in a very long time.  

   


As she walked around the yard, she smiled at all of the hard work that Hermione had gone to, setting all of the lights around, making everything look absolutely perfect.  _Now, if only Hermione could’ve listen long enough to get the hint about me coming out here_ , Ginny thought. _Oh well_. Maybe she’d get lucky and Harry would come looking for her. Now, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself for thinking that would ever happen.

   


_So much for my blanket_ , she thought. _It’s too warm out here for it. Bugger! I’m sinking_. And she was right. She knew she’d have a hard time walking on the grass in her heels, but now they had started to sink into the ground. _Oh well, they were starting to hurt anyway_.  Ginny bent her left leg back, balancing herself on her right, and pulled off her shoe. Switching legs, she did the same, and removed her other shoe.   

   


Ginny hadn’t been standing there more than five minutes, with her shoes in hand, when she heard a voice come from somewhere behind her. “Now, this just makes me wonder; what is it up there that is so interesting, that you decided it was better than talking to me?” 

   


Harry was standing some ten feet away, with his arms crossed with two bottles of butterbeer in hand, and glaring up at the sky.  Ginny flushed, knowing that she went pink and thought, _Ok…was Hermione just messing with me or did I just have a bit of luck?_

   


“Ginny? …Gin?”  Harry called after her, as he looked back in the direction of where she was standing, to see her gaze fixed on him.

   


_Oh bloody_ , she hadn’t answered him. “Erm….what?” she said, shaking her head and trying to focus.

   


Harry smiled, desperately trying to suppress a laugh. “I said, is there something up there that’s more interesting than talking to me?”

   


“Er… umm…” Ginny couldn’t seem to put a thought together. All she had wanted, all night, was a few minutes alone with him. Now that she finally had it, it caught her off guard. “…Nothing… I mean…I just… needed a little peace and quiet from all of the chatting going on in there.”

   


“Oh…. well, I’ll just go back inside then and leave you-“ Harry began saying, only Ginny cut him off.

   


“No! Don’t go. Please… stay.” Ginny smiled sweetly at him, and Harry felt his heart melt.  “So, is that a butterbeer you have for me, or are both of those for you?”

   


“Um…yeah. I mean… I thought you might like one.”  

   


“Yes, please.” Ginny said quickly. “Thanks,” she said as she closed the gap between her and Harry and took one of the bottles from his hand.  She took a slow drink and Harry watched as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste.  He smiled again and quickly took a drink from his bottle, so that he forced himself to stop staring at her.

   


Ginny breathed in deeply. “Now, that’s some good stuff. Nothing against that punch drink of Hermione’s, but I’d prefer some nice butterbeer.”

   


“I was thinking the same thing,” Harry nodded in agreement.

   


They both stood in silence for a moment, and then Harry spoke softly. “Ginny if I’m bothering you, I can go inside. You won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me to go.”

   


“Harry, you’re not bothering me.” Then she whispered, “besides, I’ve been wanting to get a chance to talk to you all night. Preferably away from all of the nosy sods in there and I’m not just talking about my family.”

   


They both laughed lightly at her last statement and then the more serious conversation returned.  “You’ve been wanting to talk to me, all night?” Harry asked.

   


“Well…yeah, silly.  I haven’t seen you in four years.  I think I might like to get in a word or two with you.” Ginny smiled. “Plus… I’ve really missed you, Harry.” 

   


Harry swallowed hard. “I’ve missed you too, Gin.”

   


She smiled, and could no longer resist it. She walked over and gave him a big hug, snaking her arms around his waist and up his back. She took in the smell of him and then sighed slowly, turning her head and resting it against his chest.

   


Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he felt Ginny against him. His heart was racing and he just knew that Ginny could hear it beating through his chest. He felt her hands working up his back. And in that moment, all he wanted was to stay there in her arms for the rest of his life.

   


He stood there frozen for a solid minute, not breathing, holding his arms out in the air.  When she’d hugged him, he didn’t know exactly what to do.  Gathering the strength to hug her back, he brought his arms in, placing them around her waist. He finally let out a ragged breath, as his hands caressed her back, and he heard her take in a short breath.

   


Harry started to reach his hand up to run his fingers through her hair, and he remembered that she’d worn it up tonight. He silently cursed to himself.  He longed for her hair to be falling over her shoulders; he longed to run his fingers through the silkiness of it. Instead, he pushed back the curl that had been hanging down the side of her face.  He gently smoothed the top of her hair, letting his hand fall to caress her cheek, as he placed a loving kiss on the top of her head.

   


Ginny felt like her heart would burst into thousands of tiny bits, as she felt his touch on her cheek and his kiss on her head.  Then the thought crossed her mind, she’d worn her hair up. She was willing bet good money that it was killing him for her hair not to be down. She giggled to herself and then pulled away from Harry slightly, still staying in his arms.

   


He looked at her in confusion for a moment, thinking that he might have overstepped his boundaries.  His mouth opened, ready to say ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that’, when he saw her reach up and pull a few small pins from her hair.  She leaned her head back and shook it causing her hair to fall over her shoulders and spill down her back.  

   


“That feels much better,” she whispered.

   


He made sound, much like a growl, in the back of his throat, and he thought he was going to die.   He watched as her hair fell around her face, the curls still holding in the ends.  She looked up into his eyes, watching him as his look grew intense.  He moved his hand up again and ran his fingers, smoothly, through her long, red hair.  Closing his eyes, he thought _this is my heaven_.

   


She smiled and laid her head back on his chest. They both began to rock, slowly, as they hugged.

   


“Hey,” Ginny said, “we’re almost dancing.” She gazed intently into his eyes and he felt the flush spreading across his face.

   


He removed one of his hands from her back, and reached around to pull his wand out from his pocket.  Giving it a small flick, the air suddenly filled with music.  Listening closely, she began to smile again and said, “This is my favorite song, how did you know?”

   


“Well, I knew it was one of your favorites all those years ago. I just hoped it was still one that you liked.”

   


They began to dance to the sweet melodic tunes that seemed to be floating everywhere around them.  “hhmmm…. Hhmmmm….hmmm….” Harry looked down to see Ginny humming along to the song. He smiled and continued to listen to her. “hmmm… _one honest touch can set me free…let the world stop turning…let the sun stop burning…let them tell me love’s not worth going through_ …hmmmhmmm… _in this life I was loved by you_ …hmmm…hmmm…”

   


_Please let the world stop turning_ , he thought. He kept listening to her as she hummed along and then a sad look came over his face.  He stopped dancing and pulled away from her, he couldn’t do this, not when Neville had just sat in there and told him that she had a particular guy in mind that she liked.  He wanted to be with her but he was scared to put his heart out there on the line.  

   


“Gin, I… uh…I want to say so many things, but… oh, Ginny…I can’t do this to you or to me…I can’t. I’m sorry.” Harry started to turn and walk away as she stopped him.

   


“Harry, what you are talking about? What do you want to say?” She looked hurt as he pulled away from her.

   


“I thought I could tell you, but…who am I kidding…I’m- I’m not going to ruin things for you. If there is someone that you have your heart set on…I’m not going to stand in your way.” He started to walk away again.

   


Thoroughly confused now, Ginny said, “what are you on about? I don’t understand. Harry! Don’t go…make me understand, no matter how much you think that you are going to _ruin_ things for me?” She was really hurt by his sudden change in attitude now. Here he was, the one that came looking for her, he sought her out, and now he was walking away. By Merlin, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

   


Taking in one deep breath, he turned and said, “Ok. Fine. You want to know what I’m talking about? I just sat in your house no longer than an hour ago and listened to Neville tell me that you had dated a couple of guys while I was away, but you weren’t seeing anyone right now, which I thought was going to be good news for me. But, then he says he’s pretty sure that you have your mind set on one particular person. At first, I thought it might be either him or Dean, but-“

   


“What the bloody hell? Are you insane? Dean and I are not, and will never again, be involved.  Do you have any idea what he has put me through?” Ginny said hysterically. She certainly hadn’t planned on things taking this kind of turn.

   


Trying to calm her back down a little, “Neville told me he heard you tell Hermione that he hit on you, tonight.  I didn’t know the circumstances when I rounded the corner to the kitchen and saw him put his hand on your back.”

   


Becoming more than agitated, Ginny’s voice began to rise. “Then if you saw him put his hand on my back, then you saw me turn around and tell him to get out of my face. You heard me tell him to leave me alone and stop with the incessant begging for me to go back out with him. And then, you certainly should have seen me hit him hard on the butt with a spell.”

   


Harry knew he’d made a mess of things now, and it was up to him to make sure that things didn’t stay in their current state.  “Ginny, I only saw him put his hand on your back and then… _honestly_ , then I became so furious at what I saw, that I walked away without seeing anything else that happened.  I found out, only too late that you two weren’t dating and I felt horrible. That’s why you saw me, sitting on the couch, looking like I was about to be sick.  I felt like such a fool, Ginny.”

   


His words finally making some sense, she chimed in. “Well, bloody…you should feel like a fool!  God, I’ve never been so mad you.”

   


It was over. Whatever small chance he had, he knew it was gone now. “I’m sorry, Ginny. I’ll just…go.”

   


\------------------------------

   


She stood there watching him walk away from her, just giving up. What was that all about? He didn’t give up on seeking out the horcruxes, and he didn’t stop until Voldemort was dead.  But, now, all of a sudden, he’s giving up on her? If she had anything to do with it, and she did, he had another thing coming.

   


“Oh, no you don’t. You are not walking away from this, Harry Potter.”

   


_Dangit_. He was in trouble now.  _Oy_.  Harry turned and faced her, preparing for the worst.

   


“Bloody crap, Harry. Do you know why I haven’t dated many people since you left? Do you know why I constantly turn down Dean, and other guys that are interested in me?”

   


“No…” Harry mumbled.

   


“Well, get this through your thick head, Harry. I’m in love with you. Always have been and always will be, unless you keep pissing me off like you have tonight, _then_ I might have to rethink this whole ‘I’m in love with you’ thing.” Ginny spewed, breathing heavily.

   


“Ginny, I don’t know what else to say. I was a fool and I-…what did you just say?”  Harry was in shock. _Did she just say what I think she just said_?

   


“You heard me loud and clear, Potter. I’m in love with you. I _love_ you! ” she said, still a little angry.

   


“Well, then what was all of this stuff Neville was saying about you having a certain guy in mind?”

   


“Harry, are you paying any attention? He was talking about you. You are the one that I had in mind.” Ginny was frustrated beyond repair. She began to pace around the yard, trying to blow off some steam.

   


He now realized everything. Her flirting, her words, her touches. She did love him. He closed his eyes, cursing silently.  _How am I going to fix this?_

   


“Harry, if you don’t have anything to say,” she said, still pacing around the yard, “I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone, now.”

   


_No_ …he shook his head. _Not this time_.  Harry walked right over to where she was still pacing, livid at him.  Closing the gap between them, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her tight against him, kissing her with such fierceness and such passion like she never imagined.

   


After several long moments, they broke away from each other, the need for air desperately overcoming their need to snog.  “I know that this doesn’t say all that I have within me, but…for heaven’s sake Ginny, I didn’t mean to make you upset, I just… wanted to make sure that you ended up with the person that you wanted to be with.”

   


“Well, if you’d cut out all this unnecessary drama, we might be able to avoid more scenes like this.  Plus, if you’d stop with all this nonsense, I just might be able to be with the person I want to be with.” Ginny said as she rolled her eyes and slowly started to calm down.

   


“You know I didn’t do this to make a scene, I just want you to be happy, whether it’s with or without me.  I love you. …I’m _in_ love with you, Gin.” Harry said, his eyes growing intense again.

   


“Harry…I’m happiest when I’m with you.” Ginny tried to make Harry understand this.  

   


He kissed her again, with such a force that she would have collapsed to the ground, had it not been for Harry holding her up.

   


Ginny pulled back drunkenly.  Regaining some kind of clear thought, “well,” she said sighing, “now that we’ve got that settled, what’s this about you thinking that Neville and I had been seeing each other?”

   


“Nothing, I was just…this morning I thought to myself that if you were with someone, if you were engaged, that it might be to either Dean or Neville.  And, knowing what I know now, I can officially cross Dean off _that_ list now. But, then I thought, you and Neville have always been so close …I just assumed-“ Harry was saying as he was cut off by Ginny’s laughter.  “What? It’s not an impossible thing, you know?”

   


Ginny couldn’t stop laughing. She found this so very funny.  “Neville…and me?” she said between chuckles. “Harry, trust me…it’s not going to happen, ever. Neville and I are just-“

   


“-friends”, they said together.

   


“Yeah, I know.  After the whole misunderstanding about Dean, I decided to be quite forward with Neville and ask him if you were seeing someone. And when he said no, I thought, well I’ll ask one more time, just in case. I told him that I always thought that you two might hit it off since you were such good friends, but he quickly set me straight. He told me you two had been out together a few times, but only ever as friends. And _then_ …he tells me he and Luna are together. By the way, when did that happen?” Harry asked.

   


Still very amused by Harry’s wrong conclusions, she said, “they’ve been together about two and a half years, now.”

   


“Really?” Harry asked raising his eyebrows. “Hmph…I never would’ve thought they’d end up together.”

   


“Well, they are quite perfect for each other.  Besides, I have it on good authority that he’s going to ask her to marry him; I’m just not sure he knows when he’s going to ask her, quite yet.  But, I’m willing to bet good money, it’ll be sometime soon.”  Ginny smiled just thinking about her friends having a wonderful life together.

   


Harry looked down at her smiling face and he knew, without a doubt, that he would love her for the rest of his life.  “Gin, you are so beautiful,” he stated simply.

   


Biting her lip, she said, “yeah? You think so?”

   


“Oh… I know so,” he said as his breathing became heavy.

   


She blushed at the way he was looking at her. “Ah...it’s just the dress.  I bought it especially for you.  I wanted to knock your socks off, since this was going to be the first time we’ve seen each other in four years.”

   


“No…it’s not the dress, it’s you. And besides, I saw you before-…doohh“ Harry stopped what he was saying. _Shoot, I’ve blown my cover_.

   


Narrowing her eyes, she lit up with a wicked smile. “Oh no, no, no. You’ve got to finish that sentence. When did you see me before?”

   


Harry could have kicked himself for opening his big mouth. He’d have to tell her now. “After I got the letter from your dad this morning, I was a little irritated at the fact that I had to wait until tonight to see you.  So, I gave in and apparated over here.  It was around noon or after. I snuck around and peered in the kitchen window as your mum asked Hermione to help her finish the cooking. Then, I heard her say you went down to the pond for a swim, so I apparated there.  I watched you for a little while and then…”

   


Ginny drew in a long breath. “You!  It wasn’t a bird that snapped that twig, it was you. And I guarantee, you sent that bird walking out, just to keep me from finding out you were there.”

   


Harry cringed, waiting for an even worse reaction, “Yeah. That was me.”

   


“Oh, you are going to be in so much trouble with Mum. When she finds out you came over here before the party, she’s going to hex you.”

   


His eyes grew wide, and he shook his head, “she’s not going to find out that I was over here. If she did, I _really_ would be in big trouble.”

   


With a mischievous smile and an evil laugh, Ginny said, “Oh yes, she is going to find out. And, I’m going to be the one to tell her.” She started to make a run for it, but felt Harry close in on her before she could get very far.

   


“Oh, no you don’t. You are not ratting me out.”

   


“And why wouldn’t I? Hmm?” she said with one eyebrow raised.

   


“Because you love me too much to get me in trouble.”

   


Considering this, “well, you may be right, but it’s awfully tempting… Ok, fine. I won’t blow your cover. Your secret’s safe with me.”

   


He grinned, knowing that he won this battle.

   


“How is it that you do this to me?  You’re the only one who could get away with this, you know? Anyone else would’ve been toast, by now,” Ginny said, shaking her head slowly.

   


Whispering in her ear, he said, “I know, because you do the same thing to me.”  Harry paused before continuing. “You know, the one thing that I wanted, more than anything, while I was gone, was you.  As long as I have you, I don’t need or want anything else.”

   


He felt Ginny shiver in this arms. “Gin, let’s go back to my flat, just you and me, please?”

   


Approaching the situation cautiously, “Harry, er…I don’t know…erm…”

   


“No, no, no…that’s not the reason,” he said, knowing that she thought he meant for other purposes.  “I just want to have you all to myself for a little while.”

   


“Oh…” Ginny said, now acting the bit, “so, you want me to steal away with you to your flat and then come back two hours later, leaving me to explain why I took the guest of honor away from his welcome home party?”

   


“Well…you could do that, or you could skip the whole getting in trouble bit and just stay wrapped in my arms all night.”

   


“Hmmm….” Ginny considered the idea, and remembered how very dull the party had gotten, “ok, we’ve got a deal. But let me make one thing very clear, Harry James Potter. There will be _no_ hanky-panky whatsoever. Do I make myself clear?”

   


He nodded his head. “Crystal.  Besides, all that ‘hanky-panky’, as you call it, is for after we’re married.”

   


With a shocked look written all over her face, she said, “oh yeah? Since when did you come up with that brilliant idea?”

   


“Oh, it came to me a while ago. But don’t get your cart before the horse. For Merlin’s sake, we just got together again, now you want to get engaged?” Harry asked as a cheeky smile snuck on his face.

   


“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up, not me,” Ginny accused, swatting his arm lightly. “Well, at least we’re agreed on one thing.”

   


“Yeah, what’s that?”

   


“We’re both head over heels in love with each other,” she said, observing his reaction.

   


Taking a deep breath, he thought about what she said for a long moment. “Yeah, I think I do agree with that,” he said smiling back at her.

   


“Well, I should hope-,” Ginny began to say, when Harry cut her off with yet another intense kiss. Oh, she could really get used to this.  The next thing she knew, they were at Harry’s flat.  _Oh_ , she thought, _he thinks he’s clever.  Well, now I’ll just have to snog him senseless. We’ll see how he takes to that.  He won’t have his wits about him, once I’m finished_.  

   



	3. Mistakes

 

**4 months later:**

  
“Damn it!” yelled Ginny, as she walked out, slamming the door to Harry’s flat.

“Ginny! … Ginny!!” Harry called as he ran over to the door, trying to catch her before she left.

He had only been a couple seconds behind her, but it was enough time for Ginny to apparate wherever she’d planned on going to.

Harry swung open his door as he called out again, “Ginny! Come back!”

He let out a deeply saddened sigh as he noticed that Ginny was already gone. Harry cursed to himself as he went back inside his flat. When was he ever going to learn to stop being such a fool, especially when it came to her?

They’d been together for four months; ever since the night that her family threw him the welcome home party at the Burrow.  He remembered that night vividly; how she looked, how she smelled, how he was absolutely and completely head over heels for her, and he still was.

It had been such a wonderful four months. Each day was even better than the last.  Sure, they had their little squabbles and sometimes even bigger fights, but they’d always been able to make up shortly after their argument. Harry wasn’t quite sure that was going to be the case, this time.

Ginny had come over to Harry’s flat earlier that morning because they were going to spend some quality time with each other.  With him being back at the Ministry and on auror duties constantly, having alone time was a little hard to come by.  

They had planned on making breakfast together, and then later that morning, they were going to take a nice, long walk in the park and possibly see a movie at the local muggle cinema.

Harry had started making breakfast before Ginny arrived. He knew that he shouldn’t have begun without her, but he didn’t want them to spend all day in the kitchen.  Truth be told, Harry loved to cook, he just wasn’t very good at it.  It was actually quite perfect, if you think about it. Ginny didn’t really like to cook, but she was great at it; and Harry, well, he admittedly lacked certain skills but, he had plenty of enthusiasm to make up for that. 

  
When Ginny arrived, she’d found Harry already working his tail off. She let out a low whistle and spoke, “now this is something I could get used to seeing every morning,” _and night, for that matter_ , Ginny finished in thought.    
Harry was standing there in nothing but his boxers and a Chudley Cannons tee shirt.  He had planned on getting dressed shortly before she’d arrived, but time must have gotten away with him, and so did the eggs, there was a mess everywhere.  Needless to say, Ginny had scared the b’jesus out of him when he heard her speak.

“Ginny, you startled me!” Harry exclaimed.

“Well, this will teach you to always be on your toes, even when you look as cute as you do right now.” Ginny chuckled, and Harry suddenly flushed, becoming very aware of how little clothing he was wearing.

She moved into the kitchen, to rescue him from his destruction. “Here, let me do that. You start working on the pancakes.”

“Well, yes ma’am,” Harry said snickering, but quickly standing at attention.

“Don’t make me old before I get there. I’m no ma’am. At least, not yet,” Ginny said as she took the eggs from him.

“Well, I feel a bit…er…exposed, so I’m going to go grab my pants, first.” Harry said, as he headed towards his bedroom.  
 

“Oh!” Ginny called out, “Don’t change on account of me.” She desperately tried to suppress another giggle, but failed.  
 

Harry was fastening the button on his pants as he walked back into the kitchen. “There, that’s much better.”  
 

“Well, now I do like the ‘clothed’ look on you, but I certainly prefer the former choice of apparel,” she said, giggling like a school girl.  “Ah well, I guess I’ll have to do with my memories.”  
 

Narrowing his eyes at her, Harry said, “Why, Miss Weasley, do I need to use a memory charm on you?”  
 

“You most certainly will not!” Ginny said, shocked at the thought.  “Besides, I’ve seen you in far less clothing than that, and you are, under no circumstances, taking that memory from me.”  
 

“When did you see me in less than boxers and a tee shirt?” Harry asked, trying to recall when she was referring to.  
 

“How soon you forget,” Ginny said as she shook her head.  “You remember when we planned on going out to a few weeks ago; and I got off work early, so I apparated over, not realizing you were just getting out of the shower?  Yeah…I remember that towel and think of it very fondly,” she said, remembering a rather vulnerable Harry.  Ginny smiled at the thought; she was having a great time this morning.    
 

Realization hit Harry and a blush came over his cheeks. “Oh…I’m definitely using a memory charm on you, love.”  
 

“You even try it and I’ll hex you into next year. You know that my bat bogey hexes are quite effective.”  
 

Withdrawing from the battle, temporarily, Harry said, “Ok…fine. No memory charms, no bat bogey hexes.”  
 

Ginny smiled cutely at Harry, “deal.”  
 

They both returned to making their breakfast; he started working on the pancakes, while she finished up with the eggs.  Even making a meal together was a wonderful time for them.  Things would have continued to go smoothly too, but Harry decided that he needed a _bit_ of payback for Ginny catching him in such little clothing.   
 

Without warning, Harry yelled out, “Clean up on aisle five.”  
 

Ginny only had time to reply with “huh?” when a cloud of white smoke filled the air.  
 

“Harry!” Ginny whined as she came running out of the kitchen, with him close behind her.  
 

Harry had decided to make a bloody mess with the flour and now they were both covered from head to toe.  He couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of her; she looked like a ghost.  
 

“Stop laughing at me! You don’t look so hot yourself.” Ginny said astounded at what he’d done. “Just look at me. It’s all over my clothes and in my hair.” She was now whimpering as she tried to clean herself up the hard way.  She’d left her wand in the kitchen and she wasn’t about to go back in there and start coughing her head off from all the flour in the air.  
 

Harry had stopped laughing now, as he was in awe of the way she looked.  She was even beautiful when she was completely covered in flour. “I am looking at you,” he said, stepping towards her. He pulled her chin up so that he could look into her deep brown eyes. “You never cease to amaze me, Gin. I love you so much.”  
 

She was frozen in place. She loved how he could be silly one minute and completely serious the next. Ginny felt Harry’s lips lightly brush against hers for a moment, and then there it was, the kiss of undying want that she felt every time.  Oh, how she became lost in his kisses.    
 

Ginny’s eyes fluttered open as they parted.  It took a minute before she could regain the ability to speak again.  “Well, I might allow more of those flour fits of yours…just as long as I can get more kisses like that.”  
 

“You can count on it!” Harry grinned cheekily.   
 

“I can count on what? The flour fits or the kisses?”  
 

“Both,” Harry said and he leaned down to kiss her again.  They were both hungry for more than food now.  
   
\---------------------------  
   
   


After they’d eaten breakfast, Ginny started clearing away the dishes from the table and then moved into the kitchen to clean up.  Harry reached out to stop her from going any further. 

   


“Oh no, Miss Weasley. Even though I love the idea of you taking care of me, this can wait until much later.”

   


“Who said I was taking care of you?” she said, amused at Harry’s statement.

   


“Well, you were, weren’t you?”

   


“Well…yes, but also because I can’t stand seeing a mess, especially one like this.  I mean, this flour isn’t going to clean itself.” Ginny said looking at the kitchen distastefully.

   


“Don’t worry about the kitchen, love. I’ll take care of it.” Harry said as he flicked his wand a few times, muttering cleaning spells.  The kitchen would be clean in no time.

   


“Now,” Harry said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her into the sitting room, “I think we need to just relax a bit. Don’t you think so?” As they reached his sofa, he swept her hair off of her right shoulder and around to her left. He leaned down and began to place gentle kisses on her neck and along the line of her jaw. 

   


She moved her head, allowing him more room.  Her knees were now growing weak and she softly murmured his name, “Harry-”

   


Harry felt his chest tighten and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck and took in the sweet smell of lavender in her hair, “Gin,” he whispered.

   


“No. Harry, we have to… stop.” Ginny was sure to lose her control if they kept this up.  She pulled away from the warm kisses that had been gracing her skin and smiled apologetically at him. “I’m sorry, love.”

   


Sighing regretfully, Harry said, “That’s ok. I don’t want to rush into anything. Besides, I can be perfectly content just holding you.” 

   


He sat down on the sofa, resting one arm on the back. Ginny sat down, wedging herself between Harry and the sofa, settling comfortably in his arms.  She loved the feel of him by her and sometimes thought _I can’t believe that this has finally happened. I can’t believe we’re here together and happy_. Ginny felt Harry’s arm fall around her, and she reached up for his hand.  Interlocking her fingers with his, she pulled his hand toward her and kissed it sweetly.

   


They sat quietly, for a few minutes, and then Harry broke the silence. “So, how’s work been going?”

   


“Oh, it’s fine.” Ginny had been working as a nurse at St. Mungo’s for the past two years with every intention of going through the training to become a healer.  But, the longer she put it off, the more she found herself wanting to do something else. 

   


Harry knew something was on her mind. He felt her tense up a little when he asked the question. “Gin, what’s wrong? And don’t say ‘it’s nothing’ because I can tell that you’ve got something on your mind.”

   


“Well, nothing’s really wrong, it’s just…I’ve been talking to Dad about possibly taking on a job at the Ministry instead of becoming a healer like I had planned.” Ginny had a particular job in mind and although Mr. Weasley didn’t full approve of it, he wasn’t going to stop his daughter, if this was her dream.

   


Harry was a little surprised.  He didn’t know that she had been thinking about changing jobs. “I thought you had always wanted to become a healer?”

   


“Well, I did, but I don’t think it’s my dream anymore.”

   


Considering this, Harry asked, “Well, what seems to have perked your interest at the Ministry?”

   


“I’m considering joining the auror training program in a couple of weeks,” she said, turning to read Harry’s reaction.

   


A look of concern and worry came across his face. “What? I thought you said that you would never become an auror?”

   


“No. I didn’t say that I’d _never_ become an auror. I just said that I didn’t really see myself becoming one.  But, I’ve grown up since then, and I’ve changed my mind.” Ginny said with a confused expression.  She didn’t get it, what was so wrong with her wanting to become an auror?

   


Harry didn’t like the fact that Ginny now wanted to go into this line of work.  The job was tough and dangerous. It’s not that he didn’t think she could do the job; it’s just that he didn’t want to see her get hurt, and being an auror, there was a great chance of that happening.

   


“But, Gin- are you sure? I mean being an auror is hard work. Not to mention, the long hours and it’s extremely dangerous.” Harry said with a hint of pleading in his voice.

   


Surprised at his statement, Ginny snapped. “What? You think I can’t take care of myself? For heaven’s sake, Harry, I am completely capable of protecting myself. And who cares if it’s hard work and long hours? I quite think that I’m smart enough to do the job. I mean, they wouldn’t have accepted me into the program if I didn’t meet their qualifications.”

   


“So, you’ve already signed up for the training program?”

   


“Well, yes, I had _pretty much_ made my mind up about it.” Ginny said backing away from Harry.

   


Harry was running out of things to say -- reasons to keep her from going into the training program. “Gin, I really don’t think you should become an auror.” 

   


She was furious now. “Oh?! And why shouldn’t I, Harry? Please? Tell me!” Ginny said as she now stood up from the sofa and began to walk towards the middle of the room.

   


He knew that he was starting to push her away, and he didn’t want that. He just wanted to be able to protect her, and if she became an auror, there was no guarantee that he could do that.

   


“Gin, don’t- I’m just afraid that if you do this, I won’t be able to be there, at all times, to protect you.” He’d done it now.  He’d gone too far. 

   


Ginny walked over to the dining room and began to gather her coat and scarf.  “God, Harry! What the bloody hell did I just say? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need you there to protect me, all the time.  I’m stronger than you think I am.” Ginny almost screamed in furry, “UGH!”

   


“Gin…Ginny, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean that you can’t take care of yourself; it’s just that, I _want_ to be there to protect you. I love you. But, if you become an auror, I’m not guaranteed to be able to be there to do that.” Harry was trying to make her understand, but she was irate. He reached out to touch her arm and she pulled away quickly.

   


“Don’t touch me, Harry.” Ginny said, releasing an annoyed sigh. “I can’t believe that you think so little of me!”

   


Hurt by her words, Harry said, “Gin… you know that’s not true.”

   


“I’m not sure about anything any more.” Ginny said making a mad rush for the door. “Damn it!” she yelled, as she yanked open the door and then quickly slammed it shut behind her.

   


Harry was just behind her, trying to stop her from going. “Ginny!... Ginny!!” he called out as he swung open the door and looked around. “Ginny! Come back!” But it was too late, she was gone.

   


\-----------------------

   


Hermione ducked as an object came flying across the room, hitting the wall not two feet away from her.  The once hippogriff figurine was now shattered into hundreds of pieces on the floor.  Even though she understood that her friend was quite upset, Hermione was beginning to lose her patience.  She didn’t mind listening to her vent out her frustrations, but breaking her own belongings was another thing.

   


“Umph…Ginny!” Hermione whined.  “That was one of my favorites. If you must throw things, pick something of Ron’s.”  She knelt down and flicked her wand at the broken hippogriff and suddenly, it was like new again.  

   


“Sorry, Hermione, I’m just so _frustrated_ with him. I am sick and tired of him thinking that he has to be there to protect me.  I’m not a child. I can manage on my own.” Ginny said as she threw herself down on the sofa.  

   


After her fight with Harry, Ginny had decided to apparate to Ron and Hermione’s flat.  When she popped in, she saw Ron in the chair in their sitting room with Hermione sitting across his lap, giving him a good snog.  At that moment, this made Ginny even angrier.

   


She walked into the room and grabbed Hermione’s arm, yanking her off of Ron. She muttered through gritted teeth, “Hermione, I need to talk to you. _Now_.” 

   


Ron was highly upset that his lips were no longer permanently attached to Hermione’s.  “What the bloody hell, Ginny? What’s the matter with you?”

   


“Oh, it’s not me Ron. It’s that git of a friend of yours. Ask _him_ what’s wrong” she spouted as Hermione pulled her arm out of Ginny’s grip.

   


Hermione knew it was going to take getting rid of Ron before she’d ever have a chance to calm Ginny down.  When it came to him being around whenever Ginny and Harry had a row, Ginny often ended up yelling at Ron because he tended to side with Harry.

   


“Hang on just a minute, Ginny.” Hermione said as she walked back over towards Ron.  “Ron, honey, you might want to go over to Harry’s flat and talk with him. And, find out his side of the story.” She ended in a whisper, so that Ginny wouldn’t hear what she said.  

   


If it was up to Ron, he would’ve stayed there and given Ginny a good piece of his mind. But, he knew that Hermione was right.  She often was, especially when it came to Harry and Ginny. He fought to hold his tongue and clenched his jaw.  “Fine, I’ll be back soon.”

   


Ron leaned down and kissed Hermione on the cheek and then turned to give Ginny a very disapproving look before apparating to Harry’s flat.

   


At the present, Ginny was set on throwing things, which didn’t look good for the rest of Hermione’s knick-knacks.  Thankfully, she was starting to lose steam.

   


“Well, now that you’ve managed to settle down enough to stop throwing my things, would you mind telling me what happened between you two?” Hermione asked as she sat down next to Ginny.  

   


She let out a frustrated sigh. “Everything was going fine this morning. _Even_ the flour bomb in the kitchen was ok. But, then he had to ask me about work.  So, I _finally_ did it. I told Harry that I was going into the auror training program.”

   


“Oh…” she said, realization hitting her, “you finally told him? And what exactly did he- huh? Wait. _What_ flour bomb?” Hermione said stopping in mid question.

   


Without pausing, Ginny continued, mockingly. “He was like ‘what do mean you want to become an auror? I thought you said you’d never be one?’ And then he goes on to say that he didn’t think I should do it because it was _hard work and dangerous_ , and he couldn’t guarantee to be there to protect me all the time. **UGH!!** I mean, where does he get off?!  He thinks he can do this job and _I_ can’t? Oh, that man has another thing coming.”

   


“Ginny, you _know_ better than to think that Harry would ever suggest that you didn’t have the ability to become an auror. And I think that you feel guilty for even letting that thought cross your mind.” Hermione said calmly.

   


Astonished to hear Hermione say that she thought that Ginny felt guilty, didn’t make her any less angry.  “ _Me_? Feel guilty for Harry’s thoughts? I don’t think so.  Why should I feel guilty?” Ginny continued, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

   


“Well, I think that you feel guilty because you’ve only realized, too late, that Harry was just being protective of you, because he loves you, and not because he doesn’t think that you can do the job. You know as well as I do that he thinks that you could catch the moon.  I know I’m right when I say that this just caught him off guard and, he didn’t know exactly how to respond to it. After all, you’d been thinking about this for a while, and you hadn’t told him until now. So why _is_ that Ginny? Tell me.”

   


Ginny opened her mouth, finding it a little hard to gather an answer. But, before anything could actually come out of her mouth, Hermione had started up again.

   


“I’ll tell you why, Ginny, dear.  You didn’t tell him, until now, because you _knew_ he’d react this way. You knew that he’d try to stop you as much as he could. You’ve heard him talking about his auror duties day in and day out and you’ve heard him talk about how dangerous it was. You knew that he wouldn’t like the idea too much because he wants to keep you safe. And don’t even think of interrupting me to say that you can protect yourself, because I’ve heard that bit before. We all get it.” Hermione said, stopping Ginny from even trying to give her rebuttal. “But, what you need to get through your _thick skull_ is that Harry will do _anything and everything_ , in his power, to protect you. Ginny… he’d give his own life just to know that you were safe.”

   


Ginny was finally beginning to sober up as she heard the last words Hermione spoke. _I’m such an arrogant prat_ , she thought. _She’s right. Merlin, she’s always right._ Ginny rolled her eyes at the thought. She hated admitting to Hermione that her stupidity had overcome her, again.  “Oh, Merlin, what a fool I’ve been. What a stupid git.  Hermione, I’m sorry, I know that you’re right. Why did I let my temper get the best of me?”

   


“It’s in your nature Ginny. Your temper is always going to get the better of you. But, it’s always what drives you to be the person you are.  You just need to learn to balance it all.  Besides, I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to. That apology belongs to Harry.”

   


Turning her head in shame, Ginny spoke in a choked breath. “How am I going to face him? Oh, Merlin, I can’t. Not after the way that I left him. Oh Merlin!” She sat on the sofa, resting her elbows on her legs, with her head buried in her hands.  

   


Hermione looked inquiringly at her friend. “For heaven’s sake Ginny, what did you do?”

   


“He tried to reach out to me, and I… I pulled away. Oh, Merlin! I told him that I wasn’t sure about anything with him anymore. And then I ran out of his flat, cursing as I went. Oh… Merlin! Hermione, what am I going to do? I’ve ruined it all. What am I going to do?” Ginny was rocking back and forth now, trembling at the thought of how she left Harry.

   


“It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.” Hermione put her arms around Ginny, hugging her and desperately trying to calm her down. “We’ll work something out.”

   


They sat on the sofa, rocking together. Hermione even thought she heard Ginny crying a little. She was beginning to worry, because she’d never seen her this upset about anything.  She had to do something to help her friend.

   


\------------------------

   


Upon apparating to Harry’s flat, Ron immediately spotted his best mate lying on his sofa, just staring into his floo. As he started to speak, he heard music playing, and a woman’s voice following… _cause hurtful words are all that we exchanged, but I can’t watch you walk away…I can’t give up on us now_ …

   


“Bloody hell, Harry!” Ron said, rolling his eyes, as he walked into the sitting room. “I thought laying around, moping and listening to sappy love songs was for girls. What’s gotten into you?” 

   


“Just go, Ron. I want to be alone.” Harry said, shifting his body and turning his back to Ron.

   


“Sorry mate, no can do. I’ve been sent into the battle to find out what has happened. And you know I can’t go back to Hermione empty handed. So, what gives? What happened?” He said as he sat down in the chair, across from the sofa.

   


Sitting up, Harry said, “Let me guess, you’ve run into Ginny.”

   


“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Ron answered, rolling his eyes again. “She apparated over to the flat a minute ago, and interrupted Hermione and I at a most inopportune time. Let’s just say, she’s going to get an ear full when I get back.”

   


“Well… how did she act?” Harry asked, not sure that he really wanted to know the answer to that question.

   


“She was barking mad, mate. You’ve gotten yourself into a mess of trouble, with whatever it was that you did. So, keep me from asking you a million times over. What happened?”

   


“She came over this morning, we had breakfast, and everything seemed to be absolutely wonderful. But, as we were sitting there talking, I asked her how work was going and she told me that she was looking into getting a job at the Ministry.”

   


“Ginny? Looking at getting a job at the Ministry? But, I thought that she despised the idea of working there? What’s got her so interested now?” Harry had caught Ron’s attention by this announcement and was a little shocked that he didn’t already know.

   


“You mean she… hasn’t said anything to you about it? I would have surely thought that she would have…oh.  She’s probably told Hermione, and neither one of them has bothered to clue you in.”

   


“Stop _dancing_ around the subject and _spit it out_. From the sound of things, I’m not going to be too happy when I hear what you have to say.” Ron sat on the edge of his chair with anticipation.

   


“She… she wants to become… an auror.”

   


Ron quickly stood up from his chair, almost yelling at the top of his lungs. “She _WHAT_?! Over my dead body is she going to become an auror.”

   


“Well, you may not have to wait very long, because if you try to stop her, she’ll kill you herself. I mean, she loves me…at least I thought so… and now look how things turned out after I told her that she shouldn’t become an auror. You’re her brother, but you know that this technicality will not stop her from causing you bodily harm.”  Harry said, trying to remind Ron that Ginny was a force to be reckoned with.

   


“I don’t care what that bloody git thinks that she wants. Doesn’t she know that we know what is best for her in this case? She’ll get hurt. Doesn’t she care what we think?”

   


“No,” Harry replied. “I think she does care what we think. But she wants us to side with her.  I should have just sided with her. I’m such a giant arse. How could I have screwed up again?”

   


“You did the right thing mate, telling her she shouldn’t become an auror. Maybe she’ll come to her senses now.”

   


“ _How_ , is what _I_ did, the right thing? How? Because of my stupidity, I may have lost the only girl that I’ve ever really loved. I may have just lost the _woman_ that I want to marry.” Harry muttered, as his head fell forward.

   


“Trust me mate, you did the right thing. Just because she doesn’t want to… _what did you just say_?” Ron’s jaw suddenly dropped, as his eyes grew wide.

   


Harry squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, breathing slowly before speaking.  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately; about asking her to marry me.  I know that we haven’t been dating that long, but she completes me. I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life. That’s why, when she said she wanted to become an auror, I panicked. It scared me so much.  If I lost her, I wouldn’t be able to… I just couldn’t…  Ron, I’ve screwed things up, haven’t I?”

   


Trying to shake himself out of the state of shock that he was still in, Ron just stared at Harry for a few moments before finally responding to him.  “You want… to ask her… to _marry_ you?” is all that he could manage to say.

   


“Yes, I had been thinking about it; I just hadn’t decided when I would ask her. However, right now, I don’t see it being a major concern, considering that she just walked out on me, angrier than I’ve ever seen her. She even told me that she wasn’t sure about anything, with us, anymore.”

   


“Listen, mate. You know Hermione; if anyone can get Ginny to think rationally, it’s her. I’m sure that things will work out. It’s just that it may take a little time.” Despite all of his faults, Ron could actually make sense sometimes. With this, Harry knew that he was right.

   


Harry nodded slowly in understanding and he and Ron sat in silence for a moment.  Ron was about to get up to leave, when suddenly Hermione’s face popped up in the floo.  

   


“Harry, are you there?” Hermione called out until she saw Harry. 

   


Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Hermione appear. “Yeah, what is it?”

   


“Listen, I need to make this quick, I don’t want Ginny to know what I’m doing.  She’s in the loo right now. She’s terribly upset at the way that she acted this morning, you know, with the running out and all.”

   


“She is? But why is she upset about the way _she_ acted? She has every right to be upset with _me_.” Harry was completely thrown off guard. He didn’t think that she’d be upset with herself, with him, yes, but not with herself.  

   


“Yes, yes, we know. She’s sorry, you’re sorry, we’re all sorry. Now that that’s understood, how do we work this out? Do you just want to come over and talk with her? Ron and I could go out, if that’s what you’d like us to do.” Hermione kept looking over her shoulder every time she thought she heard a noise.

   


“Yeah, I’ll just…” Harry began to agree, but then an idea occurred to him. “…No. No, wait. I have a better idea.”

   


“For heaven’s sake Hary, what is it? Ginny will be out of the loo any moment.” She was beginning to panic.

   


“You go ahead. I’ll fill Ron in and send him back to you with the details.”

   


“Could you be _any_ more cryptic, Harry?  Nevermind. Ok, Ron, hurry back. I’ll try to send Ginny home as soon as I can. Uh oh… I’ve got to go, she’s coming back.”

   


Ron nodded, “yeah, sure. See you soon, sweetie.”

   


With a pop, Hermione was gone, leaving Ron and Harry staring at the empty floo.

   


Ron turned to Harry with a perplexed look. “So, what’s this brilliant idea of yours, mate?”

   


“Well, it’s a bit complicated, so I’m going to need both yours and Hermione’s help for it to work.” Harry said, as he began to unfold the details of his plans to Ron.


	4. The Broken Road

  


“Hey,” Ginny said as she apparated at Hermione and Ron’s flat. “I got your owl… Hermione?” she called, looking around. All of the lights in the front of the flat were off and it seemed like no one was home, except for the light shining from the back bedroom.

   


“I’m in the bedroom, Ginny.” Hermione called out across the flat.

   


“So, what do you want to do tonight?” Ginny stopped just inside the doorway, as she saw Hermione dressed to the hilt. She looked exquisite.  “Wow! You look terrific. What’s the occasion? I thought you said that you wanted to do something with me tonight, not Ron.” Ginny said jokingly. “Has there been a change of plans?”

   


“No. I am going to do something with you. We’re going to get all dolled up, go have dinner at a nice restaurant, and enjoy ourselves with a night out on the town.” Hermione said, acting as if nothing had fazed her.

   


“Erm… Hermione? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly dressed for the particular occasion that you are planning.” She was, in fact, only in a pair of jeans and a jumper. “Besides, I’m not sure if I really want to go out and paint the town tonight.” Ginny slumped down onto the bed, dropping her bags to the ground.

   


Ginny and Harry hadn’t spoken to each other for three days. It was killing her, but she just wasn’t sure what to do. She loved Harry, more than her own life, but she wanted to become an auror. There had to be some way that they could work this out, if she could only make Harry understand.  

   


Ginny had almost resolved to say something to Harry yesterday but, Hermione told her to give him another day or two before making her move. “I’m sure that he’ll come around,” she said.  “And if he doesn’t by then, you can say something to him.”

   


“Listen,” Ginny said as she stood to go back to her flat. “Why don’t you and Ron just go out and enjoy yourselves tonight? I think I’m just going to go home, eat a bite, and head to bed.”

   


“Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it. You’re going out with me tonight and that’s that.  Besides, Ron’s out with Harry.”

   


“Harry and Ron went out? What were they going to do?” she asked questioningly.

   


“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a bunch. They just went out to The Leaky Cauldron with Fred and George.  You know, some macho guys night, or something.”  Hermione continued pinning her hair in place and then studied herself in the mirror.  “Hmph? Not half bad.”

   


“In case you didn’t hear me before. I said, I’m not dressed to go out on the town.” Ginny kept trying to insist that she would rather just stay at home and call it an early night, but Hermione seemed to want to hear nothing of it.

   


“Nonsense.  I have everything you need. Including this…” Hermione walked over to her wardrobe, and opened the door cautiously.  “Ah, here it is,” she said, as she reached in and pulled out the most beautiful dress that Ginny had ever seen.

   


Ginny went weak in the knees as soon as she saw the dress in Hermione’s hand. “Where did you get that dress, Hermione?”

   


“Oh, I just happened to be browsing through Diagon Alley today and found it in one of the shops. Gorgeous, isn’t it?” she said as a grin snuck on her face.

   


“Words can’t even begin to describe this dress, Hermione.  You shouldn’t have gotten this. It had to have cost a fortune. How ever did you pay for it?” Ginny said as she took the dress from Hermione, admiring the detail work.

   


“Never you mind how I got it. Just get dressed, and once you’re ready, I’ll come in and help you do your hair. Besides, we need to hurry. We’ve got reservations for 7 p.m.”  Hermione began to walk out of the room so that Ginny could get dressed, but she was caught by another one of her questions.

   


“Where are we going? You never said.”

   


“Don’t you worry about that. It’s my treat and I want it to be a surprise.” She turned to close the door, but popped her head back in as she remembered something. “Oh, and your shoes are just over to the right of the bed.”

   


Hermione closed the bedroom door, leaving Ginny still standing in the middle of the room, just staring at the dress in her hands. _How am I ever going to thank her for this?_ Ginny thought.

   


A few minutes later, Ginny opened the bedroom door. “Hermione, I’m ready to start working on my hair.”

   


“Great. Why don’t you go on in the loo and start trying to get a handle on that mane of yours? I need to grab something out of here really quick.” Hermione replied as she walked into the bedroom.

   


“Ok. But, we’d better make it quick. It’s already half past six and you know how unruly and stubborn my hair can be.” Ginny called as she moved into the loo.

   


“Just had to grab a few things.” She said as she entered the loo to stand behind Ginny. “Did you use a detangling charm?”

   


“Umph…no,” she whined. “You’ve got me all frazzled.  Can’t you tell me where we’re going?” Ginny was a patient person, but she wasn’t one for knowing that you were hiding a surprise, and wouldn’t tell her about it. 

   


“I already answered that question. So, stop trying to pry the information out of me. Now, let’s see…what shall we do with your hair? Aha! I’ve got it.” Hermione exclaimed, as she hurriedly said a detangling charm and a few others to help along the way.  

   


Frowning as she watched Hermione, Ginny asked, “You mean you’re not going to put it up? I think I look much more sophisticated with it up.” 

   


“We’re not going for sophisticated, my dear. We’re going for drop dead, knock your socks off, stunning! So, close your eyes for the grand finale.” Hermione placed the last curl in her hair saying, “Now, for a few finishing touches.” She began placing small sparkling silver butterflies throughout her hair. “And… there we have it. You can open your eyes now.”

   


Ginny slowly opened her eyes, revealing the masterpiece that Hermione had been working on. With a sharp intake of breath, she said, “Oh… my… Merlin. Hermione… it’s wonderful.” Tears began to well up in her eyes and she almost began crying.

   


“Oh…no, no. None of that. We don’t want to have you all splotchy from crying. Besides, there’s one more thing. Well, one… or two.” Hermione grabbed Ginny’s hand, pulling her out of the loo and back into the bedroom. “Wait right here.” She turned around and picked up two velvet boxes from where they were lying on the bed. Moving back to face Ginny, she opened up the smaller of the two boxes to reveal a pair of dazzling silver earrings. They were about two inches long, slender and at the end, they held a beautiful emerald that stood out with excellence.

   


Ginny couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t even breathe. “How… why…?”  

   


Shaking her head, “Now, now… you’ll get that answer later. And, last but certainly not least…” Hermione opened the larger velvet box, revealing a matching silver necklace that held not one, but three emeralds clustered together.

   


Ginny was now breathing hard, “ _OH… Merlin_!”

   


She reached out a shaky hand to trace her fingers along the bottom, near the beautiful green jewels.

   


“Oh, I can’t… I can’t take these. It’s all too much.”

   


“Yes you can take them, and you will. Now, put these on,” Hermione said handing the earrings to Ginny. “Once you’ve got those on, turn around so that I can put this marvelous necklace around your neck.”

   


They finished putting the new jewelry on Ginny, and she and Hermione both stood back from the mirror, admiring the sight.

   


“I have never seen you look more beautiful than you do right now.”

   


Ginny blushed profusely and lowered her head, “Thanks Hermione.”

   


“Oh goodness. Is that the time?” Hermione jumped as she noticed the clock. “We’ve got to be going or we’ll be late. Right, let me just put the blindfold on. Come on, now.”

   


“The… _what_? _Why do I have to be blindfolded_?” Ginny didn’t like the direction this was going. First she had to get all dressed up, she wasn’t told where she was going, and now she was being blindfolded? _No. If this involves a blindfold, I want a good explanation,_ Ginny thought.

   


Hermione was getting a bit irritated now. “Because I told you, this is a surprise, and if I don’t blindfold you, you’ll peek and then the surprise would be ruined.” 

   


She quickly grabbed the blindfold and covered Ginny’s eyes, tying the clothe in the back.  “Ok. Hold on to my hand; we’re off.”

   


They took each other’s hand and Hermione apparated them to their destination.

   


\------------------------------

   


“Can I take my blindfold off now? And couldn’t you have apparated us any closer? My feet were starting to hurt after walking in these heels so much.” Ginny was growing impatient.

   


“No you most certainly may not take that blindfold off!” Hermione said slapping Ginny’s hand away from pulling it off of her eyes. “Am I going to have to bind your hands behind your back?”

   


Like a child who had been severely scolded, Ginny pouted, “No…”

   


“Fine, but if you try that again, I won’t hesitate doing it. Do you understand?” Hermione fussed.  

   


Ginny slowly muttered, “Yes.” 

   


“And no, for your information, I couldn’t have apparated us any closer. You know how it is; we’ve got to be careful not to draw attention to us.” Hermione said, looking around.

   


“Ah…so we’re in a heavily populated muggle location, are we? Hmm… well for heaven’s sake, would you hurry it up? I hate not knowing where I am.”

   


“Oh…just hang on another minute or so.”

   


Hermione quickly ran about doing a few things and shushed a couple of people that were standing near the two girls. Whispering, she said, “Would you get out of here? You shouldn’t be here now.”

   


Everything grew quiet and Hermione turned back to Ginny. “Ok, now we can take the blindfold off.” She walked behind Ginny to untie it and slowly lifted the blindfold from her eyes.

   


Ginny blinked a few times trying to focus her eyes on where she was. Finally, everything started coming into view and suddenly her breath caught.  Hermione had not taken her to a restaurant as she’d said.  She’d apparated them to Hogwarts. That’s why they had to walk so much.  

   


Now, they were standing in front of the black lake, next to a _very_ memorable tree, which had been lit with hundreds of tiny shimmering lights. To the left of the tree was a small table covered with a long white clothe, and two chairs that were seated next to it.  Her attention was drawn in by two candles, sitting in the center of the table, that were surrounded by scattered red rose petals.

   


Not only were there lights in the tree, but there were also lights that surrounded the area, enclosing it intimately. Someone had also placed lily pads all along the waters of the lake. Everything was absolutely amazing. 

   


Ginny began to tear up again.  “What… _is_ all of this? I thought you said we were going to a restaurant?”

   


“Well… it was just a teensy lie. Besides, this is much better.  Oh… and your dinner guest should be arriving shortly. At any rate, I’ve got to run. Things to attend to, you know.” Hermione gave Ginny a hug and then grinned widely at her. “Have a wonderful time.”

   


Ginny turned to stop her from leaving, but as she did Ron suddenly appeared. He was in a stylish black dress robe and as he approached her, he offered his arm. “Table for two, Miss?”

   


“What are you doing here? I thought you were out with…” Everything was starting to make sense; at least, she thought she had an idea of what might be coming. “Ron, you tell me what is going on _right now_.” 

   


“I apologize, Miss. By request of your dinner guest, I was asked to seat you and say nothing more. May I?” Ron said as he extended his arm to her, again.

   


“Fine, I’ll _play_ along.” Ginny took Ron’s arm as he escorted her down a lit path towards the table.  

   


He pulled out a chair for Ginny and continued, “Your dinner guest will be along momentarily, Miss. Enjoy the evening.” She watched Ron, with a confused look on her face, as he walked away.

   


Turning back to face the table again, she absentmindedly picked up one of the rose petals and began playing with it. She heard a small rustling to her left that caught her attention.  Through a light mist that seemed to surround the lake, she noticed a figure walking towards her.  

   


Ginny braced herself as the figure came closer, trying to focus on who was approaching.  Her heart began to beat faster, and suddenly, the figure could be clearly seen. It was Harry. 

   


Ginny’s heart leapt up into her throat and he could see her chest rising and falling with each heavy breath.  

   


Harry neared the table and stopped just short of reaching her. “Hi…” was all he could say.

   


She tried to act casual, “Hi.”

   


Neither one of them moved for a moment; both were too stunned by each other to do so. Ginny couldn’t help but admire how handsome he looked in his dress robes. As her heartbeat quickened, she thought she might melt in her chair.

   


After a long period of silence, Harry seemed to find words again. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said, carefully noticing each detail of Ginny. Every curve, every freckle, every ounce of her was intoxicating.

   


Another moment passed and suddenly he didn’t want to disagree with her any longer. “I’m sorry, Gin-“

   


Before she knew it, she leapt out of the chair and ran into his arms. “Oh… Harry! Harry…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let my temper get the best of me. I shouldn’t have run out on you.” Her tears were becoming even harder to fight back now.

   


Pulling back from their embrace, he reached a hand up to caress her face. “No, no, it _wasn’t_ your fault. I shouldn’t have tried to tell you what I thought you should and shouldn’t do.  I had no right to tell you to give something up that you _want_ to do. I should’ve stopped you from leaving my flat that day. I’m so sorry, Gin.”

   


Harry kissed away a single tear that had fallen down her cheek, letting his lips gently grace her skin.  Opening his eyes, he looked down at her with so much want that he was finding it hard to control himself, but he had plans that he wanted to follow through with.  _One kiss ought to be ok, right?_ Harry thought.

   


He let his thumb trace her soft lips just before his mouth found hers.  It was tender and sweet at first, but he moaned as her tongue opened his lips to find his. Their passion was overwhelming, it always had been.

   


Somehow, Harry managed to stop them both.  Parting from her inviting lips, he said, “I’ve got other plans for the evening. Let’s not jump into things too soon. Okay?”

   


Dazedly, Ginny answered back with a lazy smile, “Well, if you must.”

   


“Yes, I _must_. So, let me have a good look at you.” Ginny stepped back, still holding on to Harry’s hand. He twirled her around slowly, taking in all of her. “Well, I must say, Hemione and I did a wonderful job, didn’t we?”

   


“What do you mean _you_ and Hermione?”  Ginny asked with a small grin forming at the corner of her mouth. “Hermione got all of this for me. Isn’t she just wonderful?” She knew exactly what was going on in his mind, but decided to go along with things. _Two could play this game_.

   


“My love, you are mistaken. Actually, Hermione helped me pick out everything. When she spotted this dress in the store, I couldn’t believe what luck we’d had. We both knew it would look bloody amazing on you, and how right we were.” 

   


He took another long look at Ginny. _Merlin, she is beautiful_ , Harry thought. The dress that Hermione had found was a long, slender silver dress that was decorated with sequins from top to bottom; its thin straps daintily hung on her shoulders, while each sequin caught the light surrounding her, making her glow. 

   


Harry’s eyes followed Ginny’s curvaceous form and he noticed the long slit, in the dress, which stopped just above her knee. He smiled as looked back into her eyes again. “Yes, absolutely amazing… no doubt.”

   


Ginny grinned back at the silly expression that was painted on Harry’s face. Pushing herself up slightly, she kissed his cheek, lingering for a moment.  Her face became serious again, “Thank you.  Thank you for … everything, Harry. The dress and _Merlin_ , _the jewelry_ ; you really know how to take a girl’s breath away.  It’s all just way _too_ much.”

   


“Gin, _nothing_ is too much for you. Listen, let’s just sit down, have a nice dinner and enjoy being with each other. These past few days, without you, have been excruciating.”

   


Ginny smiled approvingly, letting him guide her back to her seat and sit down just across from her.  

   


Startling Ginny a little, Ron reappeared by their table. “Dinner is served,” he said, with one arm bent in front of him, a white clothe hanging from it.  Ginny just gave him a funny look, waiting for him to sit her food down. When he didn’t, she started to fire back with a smart comment, but up walked Dobby. Ginny quickly shot Harry a sharp look that had every bit of “you’re in big trouble” written all over it.

   


Dobby sat down the food, with slight clumsiness, greeting both Harry and Ginny with a wide grin. “Dobby is most grateful to help Harry Potter with his plans. Dobby had some of the other house elves help prepare the food for Harry Potter, who has always been so kind to Dobby.”

   


“Thank you for all of your help, Dobby. You didn’t have to go to all of this trouble,” said Harry, with a smile.

   


“Oh, it was no trouble for Dobby, sir. It was Dobby’s pleasure to help Harry Potter. Is there anything else Dobby can do for Harry Potter, sir?”

   


Harry was trying to shorten their conversation with Dobby so that they could continue on with their evening. “No, Dobby. I think that is all. Thank you again, and send my thanks to the other house elves as well.” 

   


Ginny smiled brightly, “Yes, thank you Dobby.”

   


Thinking that Dobby would just walk away, they both turned to their delectable meal and started to eat, when Harry noticed him just staring at them with big eyes. Harry guessed Dobby was waiting to hear whether he approved of the meal or not. Taking a bite, Harry said, “Dobby, this is absolutely delicious. It’s positively wonderful.”

   


Grinning widely again, he spoke with an almost broken voice. “Dobby is pleased that Harry Potter enjoys the meal that Dobby and the other house elves have prepared. Dobby is very pleased.”

   


He was beginning to get a little irritated now, because it seemed that Dobby didn’t want to give them a moment’s peace. Harry smiled through gritted teeth and quickly glanced over at Ron, attempting to get his attention to remove Dobby.

   


Ron, thankfully, caught on and promptly walked over to help. “Dobby, I think that Harry and Ginny are ok. Let’s go back to the kitchen and thank the other house elves together.”

   


“Oh, yes, Ron Weasley.” Dobby turned back as he and Ron began to walk away. “Dobby hopes that Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley has wonderful plans this evening.” On that note, Ron sped Dobby up more, as they walked back to the castle.

   


Looking back at each other, Harry and Ginny burst into laughter.

   


“Does Hermione know that you enlisted Dobby’s… _help_?” Ginny said, still laughing.

   


“No, and she’s not going to find out. If she did, I’d get the whole _SPEW_ lecture all over again.”

   


“It’s S.P.E.W. And who says _I_ won’t turn you in?” she said raising an eyebrow.

   


Harry grinned cheekily. “You won’t because I’m too nice to you. And…you love me.” He leaned over and kissed Ginny, making her blush.

   


Sighing, “Well, you may have a point. But, it would be absolutely hilarious to see Hermione get all worked up about it again. I _guess_ I can let sleeping dogs lie.” Ginny took a bite of her food and swallowed slowly, savoring the taste. “Besides, I’m sure that if she knew that I had eaten the food that they have prepared, I’d never hear the end of it either.”

   


They both broke into laughter again, and Harry knew, then, that tonight was exactly the right time.

   


\------------------------

   


All throughout dinner, they couldn’t stop staring at one another. They idly chatted about what had been going on in the past few days, what they had been up to, all the while avoiding the topic that had caused the prior argument.

   


Once they’d both finished eating, Harry looked at Ginny intently.

   


“You look quite serious. Is something the matter?” said Ginny, worrying a little.

   


He frowned at his thoughts, “No…no. It’s just…I’ve been thinking…about something.”

   


“Uh huh” she said nodding her head slowly “…and are you going to share it with me?”

   


Breathing deeply, Harry began, “I know that neither one of us want to start fighting again, but I think that it’s important that we talk about what we had the disagreement on.”

   


Ginny sat up straight in her chair, stiffening a little.

   


“Now, don’t go getting upset. I didn’t bring this up to cause more tension between us.” With a sigh, he continued, “I brought it up to say… that if you want to be an auror, then… I’m…I’m ok with it.”

   


Ginny’s expression changed quickly from rigid to astonished. She never expected him to give up on keeping her from becoming an auror. “Really? You’re actually…ok with it?”

   


Harry reached across to hold Ginny’s hand that had been resting on the table.  “Ginny, I want you to know that I want nothing more than for you to live a happy life. And if becoming an auror is going to make you happy, then I’m just happy knowing you are,” said Harry. He smiled weakly, “just because I want to be there to be able to protect you, doesn’t mean that I don’t think that you can take care of yourself. I _know_ that you can. I just…I love you so much and I’ll do everything in my power to be able to keep you safe, keep you here, with me.”

   


Ginny couldn’t say anything. All she could do was stare at Harry.

   


“Gin, are you ok?”

   


Shaking herself from the trance she was in, Ginny’s eyes lit up as a smile grew on her face.  She stood up and walked over to Harry, taking the hand that had been holding hers.  Pulling him up, she led him to a small clearing next to their table.  

   


She turned around to face him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Ginny looked up at Harry, saying, “give us some music, please.” 

   


Harry let out a small chuckle as he pulled out his wand and flicked it up to the sky.  A sweet tune filled the air and he saw Ginny smile as she listened to the words.  _…when you say you love me, the world goes still, so still inside and when you say you love me, for a moment there’s no one else alive…_

   


Harry took her hand and placed it in his, as she brought her other hand up to rest on his shoulder. They danced as the song continued playing above them.  

   


Ginny laid her head against Harry’s chest and spoke softly, “Harry, it makes me so happy that you are ok with me being an auror.  I really want to do this, but I want to do it with your full support.  I didn’t want us to go on like we had the past few days. It was tearing my heart into pieces, not being with you.”

   


Harry smiled inwardly and perhaps a little outwardly. This was it, the moment he’d been waiting for. 

   


As the music continued playing, Harry stopped their dance and walked over to a small stone bench that sat on the bank of the lake.

   


_…and this journey that we’re on, how far we’ve come…when you say you love me, that’s all you have to say, I’ll always feel this way…when you say you love me, do you know how I love you?_ …

   


He pointed to the bench, silently asking her to have a seat. Ginny sat down and looked at Harry with a slightly puzzled expression, as he sat down next to her.  

   


“You know, I was actually rather enjoying that dance.  Why did you cut it short?”

   


Another song started playing, this time it was violins that were heard.

   


Harry looked down and began to fumble with his own hands, as he couldn’t stop wringing them.  He had suddenly become very nervous. He was doing ok earlier, a few butterflies maybe, but this nervousness hit him like a ton of bricks.  

   


He sucked in a sharp breath, but spoke gently, “Gin, I’ve been thinking about something for a really long time and it’s important, so hear me out, ok?”

   


She nodded and he continued on, “For so many years, we were just friends. I had always thought of you as Ron’s little sister. But, it took me a good deal of time to really see you and who you are.  When I _finally_ realized what an amazing person you are, without thinking of you as just my best mate’s little sister, it really opened my eyes.  I never knew that I could feel this way about someone, but you showed me, more than anyone else, what true love really is, and I haven’t had that in…in a very long time.” Harry choked on his last words as he thought of his parents. How they’d given their lives for him, because they loved him. He recalled how much they loved each other; how his dad did everything he could to keep anything from happening to him and his mum. Harry was having a hard time getting back on track after these thoughts flooded his mind.

   


Ginny reached up and gently caressed his cheek, then ran her fingers through his hair. She relished in the feeling every time. Nodding, she let him know that it was ok to keep going.

   


Harry gathered his courage again and continued. “Gin, what I’m trying to say is that…I don’t know where I would be without you in my life. The past four years, being away from you, were the hardest that I’ve ever been through. I thought that I could keep you safe by ending things with us before I left. I just ended up pushing us further apart. And that’s never what I wanted to do. 

   


“These last few months with you have been more than I could ever ask for. You’ve saved me in so many ways; for that alone, I owe you my life.”

   


Ginny was breathing rather hard now; her chest rising and falling heavily. She couldn’t believe that Harry was being so open with her. _What’s brought this on?_ she thought.

   


Harry swallowed roughly and dropped to one knee in front of her.  He searched through his pocket, trying to find something. As he pulled it out, he looked deeply into her beautiful brown eyes.  Suddenly, a calm came over him, ridding him of all of his nervousness.

   


“I think I’ve always known that I love you. Deep inside, it was always there. Every time you look at me, my heart beats faster, and my chest tightens.  It’s overwhelming but at the same time, it’s absolutely wonderful. What I’m trying to get at is… _my heart has and always will be yours_. I love you more than my own life. And if you’ll let me, I want spend every waking moment of my life showing you just how much I love you. Ginny Weasley, will you stay with me for all time? Will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”

   


Harry slowly opened a small box that he’d been holding in his hand, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring.

   


Ginny was speechless. She couldn’t believe that he was proposing to her.  Right now, all that was running through her head was, _OH…MY…MERLIN!_ She’d wanted him for so long, and here he was, giving her all of his love, all of _him_.  The tears that she’d been holding back all night were now flowing down her cheeks. Now that she had started crying, she couldn’t stop.

   


Harry was becoming a little worried. He didn’t expect Ginny to start crying. “Gin? …Ginny? I’m sorry, I’ll just…erm…” He started to get up but she finally managed to say something.

   


“No… don’t go. They’re happy tears, I promise,” she said, smiling through her tear-filled eyes.

   


“They are? Then does that mean…?”

   


Ginny nodded, “Yes. Yes, Harry James Potter, I will marry you.”

   


Harry’s face filled with brilliant smile that Ginny had never seen before. “Yes? YES? YESSSSS!!!!! SHE SAID YES!!”  He exclaimed, jumping up and pulling Ginny into his arms. He swung her around madly, twirling her until she was too dizzy to think straight.  

   


She laughed heartily and Harry, unexpectedly, snogged her beyond comprehension.  As they broke apart, Ginny spoke, “Harry, you might want to put me down before I become so dizzy that I get sick.”

   


“Oh, right!” said Harry as he stood her back firmly on the ground, holding her steady as she regained her balance.  “OH! I almost forgot.”

   


Harry pulled the ring out of the small velvet box and took Ginny’s hand to slip it on to her finger. A perfect fit. 

   


She smiled again and looked at him adoringly. “Oh, Harry, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

   


“It doesn’t come close to your beauty, Gin.” he said with all honesty.

   


She blushed furiously, “Do you know how much I love you?”

   


“Erm…no, I don’t think so. Care to share?” Harry said cheekily.

   


Ginny glared at him and raised her brow. “Oh, you think you’re _so_ funny.” She tried to get back on track; she really wanted Harry to know how much he means to her. “Harry, I do love you with all of me, every single fiber. I just want you to understand that the feelings that I have for you are like no other. I’ve never had someone who knows me and loves me like you do.” She started to cry again.

   


“Gin, it’s ok, you don’t have to say anything-“

   


“Yes, I do. It’s important to me that you understand how much I love you… how much I need you… how much I desperately want you. I wouldn’t even be here today, if it wasn’t for you. Something within me, those many years ago, told me that you were worth everything that I had to give, and… ever since that first day that I laid my eyes on you, I’ve loved you.  You’ve always been what I’ve wanted, you _always_ will be.”

   


Harry’s heart filled with so much pride to know that Ginny’s feelings for him were just as unexplainable as his feelings towards her. Sweeping her into his arms, Harry spoke softly, “thank you for telling me that. It means more than you know.”

   


They both smiled at each other and kissed longingly.

   


“I can’t wait until the day that I become your wife, Harry.”

   


“Well, we can get married whenever you like, love.”

   


“Good, because I’d like to make it sooner, rather than later.” Ginny smiled again, kissing him once more, never wanting to let go.

   


\-----------------------------

   


Ginny awoke in her warm bed, to the tune of birds chirping outside of her window. She felt giddy and then remembered why she felt that way.  It almost seemed surreal. She frowned a little, _surely it wasn’t a dream, oh please don’t let it have just been a dream_.

   


She began to stir, about to jump out of bed and apparate to Harry’s to find out. But, as she started to pull back her covers, she noticed that something was shining brightly.  It was the ring that he’d given to her. _It wasn’t a dream. It really did happen. I’m marrying Harry Potter… I’ll be Ginny Potter_.  

   


At that moment, realization sank in, and the smile that kept appearing on her face last night, suddenly became permanently attached. _I am the luckiest girl in the world_ , Ginny thought, as she got dressed. She was going to Harry’s flat to spend the day with him. Then they were going to have dinner with her family tonight and share their wonderful news with them.  

   
This was all more wonderful than she could have ever imagined it would be.


	5. You and I

  
“ **GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY!** If you don’t get your tail moving, I’m going to come up there and-,” yelled Mrs. Weasley. She was downstairs, in the kitchen, and Ginny could still hear every word she said as clear as a bell.  
   


“I’m moving, Mum. I’m moving!” She wasn’t in such a good mood. After all, today was supposed to be a special day, yet it felt anything but special to her.

   


She wanted Harry here with her, but she knew that couldn’t happen. It certainly wouldn’t happen, if her mother had anything to do with it. She, at least, wanted to know that he was somewhere within close proximity to her. However, from what Hermione told her, he hadn’t arrived yet, and it, honestly, made her a little nervous. _Where is he?_ she thought. 

   


Ginny was becoming extremely frazzled. Nothing seemed to be going right from the moment she woke up. She had a slight headache from Hermione, Luna and some of the other girls getting her a little tipsy last night.  _Why did I let them convince me to have a few drinks?_   

   


Now, her mother was screaming at her, a million people wanted to constantly come in and talk to her, the strap on her shoe broke and her hair was being even more unmanageable than usual, if that was possible.  

   


Wasn’t this supposed to be the best day of her life? Instead, it was turning out to be a nightmare.  All she wanted was Harry. She looked over at her reading table, where the picture of the two of them sat. It was one that Neville had taken, not so long ago, as they sat out on the front steps of the Burrow. She finally managed to smile and was somehow able to even relax a little.

   


As Ginny sat back down on her bed to try and comb out some of her tangles, Hermione knocked, and then opened the door. Closing it behind her quickly, she turned back towards Ginny. “ _Why aren’t you dressed yet?_ If your mum knew that you were still in your pajamas, she’d _kill_ you.”

   


“Oh come _off_ it, Hermione. This day is turning out worse than I could have ever imagined. Every one is stressing out and that’s stressing me out, and Harry’s _still_ not here yet. Where is he, Hermione? Did you owl Ron?”

   


Sitting down on the bed next to her, Hermione said, “Yes, I just owled him a few minutes ago. I should probably hear back from him shortly. So, stop worrying. I’m sure that Harry is just running behind, much like you are my dear.

   


“Now turn around and let me take care of that hair of yours,” Hermione turned Ginny so that she was facing the opposite direction. “Honestly, what would you do without me here to use these detangling charms? You’ve lived with this hair longer than I have, yet I seem to be the only one who can get these tangles out without fussing so much.” 

   


She said a few charms and then began to brush Ginny’s beautiful red hair. 

   


They both sat in silence for a few minutes and then Ginny broke in.  “You don’t think that he’s run off do you? You know, gotten cold feet?” She couldn’t help but worry about it. She knew that Harry loved _her_ and her alone, but that little whisper of doubt always found a way to creep in.

   


Hermione stopped combing her hair and sat up straight. “For heaven’s sake, Ginny! I can’t believe that you just asked me that question.”

   


“Well? What do you expect me to say when my soon-to-be husband hasn’t even arrived yet and the ceremony will be starting in little over an hour?”

   


Hermione still sat there with a shocked expression on her face. 

   


Ginny turned to look at her. She hadn’t said anything else and finally, Ginny gave a sigh. “I know; it’s very silly of me. But, sometimes I can’t help thinking that way. After all, I’m the one that has been in love with him since the first day I saw him. He didn’t even start fancying me until his sixth year. Who’s to say that he still feels this same about me?”

   


Rolling her eyes, Hermione finally spoke up. “My dear sweet Ginny. WAKE UP! He would not have asked you to marry him had he not been completely head over heels in love with you. That man can do nothing but talk about you and how wonderful you are.”

   


“Really?”

   


“REALLY?!” Hermione said looking at Ginny wildly, “Er…yeah, really! Where have you been? Have you even been dating the same Harry that I know?”

   


“Cut it out, Hermione.”

   


“No…seriously. What has gotten into you with all of this _‘are you sure he loves me’_ mess?” She was getting fed up with all of this nonsense.

   


Ginny stood up and began pacing the floor. “I don’t know…I guess this is _my_ ‘cold feet’ syndrome. I’m just nervous. That’s all.

   


“Hermione, humor me please. Would you check with Ron again and see-,” she had continued when Charlie knocked on the door and then popped his head in.

   


“Hermione,” Charlie said immediately, “I need to speak with you quickly,” then he finally noticed Ginny and tried to cover up his reason for needing Hermione, “…about the…er…erm…music.”

   


“Hey Charlie. Couldn’t even say hello to your favorite sister?” Ginny chimed in, seeing that he hadn’t acknowledged her.

   


“You’re my only sister Gin. But, I guess you’re my favorite too,” he said with a cheeky smile.

   


“Ha ha. You’re hysterical,” she said sticking her tongue out at him.

   


“I love you too, sis. Hey...why aren’t you dressed yet?” Charlie said, fixing her with a puzzled look.

   


Ginny looked back at him like she was really going to let him have it for yet another person making a comment about her not being ready. Merlin, she was too worried about Harry to be concerned with getting dressed.

   


Seeing that look on Ginny’s face, Hermione stepped in, “yeah, sure Charlie…the music. I’ll be right there.”

   


After Charlie closed the door, she turned to her best friend with a tone of warning. “Ginny, you’d best get ready, else your mum will stop the ceremony from even happening.”

   


“I will if you promise to find out where Harry is. And, I don’t mean take your precious time about it either.”

   


“You keep that up and you’ll be a maid of honor short,” Hermione said promptly as the door shut loudly behind her.  

   


Ginny huffed at Hermione’s last comment and fell back onto the bed as she resumed brushing her hair.

   


\---------------------

   


“What’s this about the music, Charlie?” Hermione asked as soon as she closed the door to Ginny’s room.

   


“It’s not the music…it’s Ron. He’s out in the backyard.”

   


“What’s he doing here? I just sent an owl to him a few minutes ago.” Hermione said, completely baffled as to why Ron would be here right now. “Did he and Harry finally decide to show up?”

   


“That’s what I’ve come to get you about. He apparated to the backyard not a moment ago saying that he needed to see you right away but he refused to come up here after you. So, he asked me to come instead.”

   


Confused, Hermione frowned, “Well, why would he not come up here himself. I don’t understand?”

   


“Apparently he doesn’t want to get stopped by Mum or Ginny because he knows they’ll both have loads of questions and he doesn’t appear to have the answers to them yet.”

   


“Charlie, please. Help me out a little here. What is going on?” She was about to lose what little patience that she had left if he didn’t hurry up and explain things.

   


“Harry’s not with Ron.”

   


Hermione only stood there with a questioning look on her face.

   


Charlie continued, knowing that this next bit would not be pleasant news. “Ron doesn’t know where Harry is.”

   


\--------------------

   


Hermione came bursting through the back door heading straight for Ron, with Charlie following. As she approached him, she softly punched him on the arm.

   


“What the _hell_ do you mean you don’t know where Harry is?” she said, trying to stay as quiet as she could so that Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t suspect anything.

   


Ron looked at her with wide eyes, “I just don’t know.”

   


“You were in the same flat with him! How do you not know where is?” Her voice started to rise.

   


“Shhh…do you want Mum to find out about this?”

   


She let her voice drop slightly and said, “Well, if you don’t start explaining yourself, I will tell her and Ginny personally-.”

   


“Fine, fine! Just shush!” Ron said interrupting her before she could get any louder.

   


She stood with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot, waiting on him to fill her and Charlie in. Hermione really lacked a certain amount of patience sometimes.

   


“After breakfast this morning, everything seemed perfectly fine. We were having a little chat in the sitting room when he suddenly stopped the conversation and said ‘well, it’s getting pretty late. I’d better start getting ready.’ I said ok, thinking everything was quite normal; I mean the guy did have to get ready. So, I went in the other bedroom, got cleaned up and dressed, and when I came out, his bedroom door was still closed. 

   


“So, I knocked on his door and called for him, to see if he was ready to head here but he didn’t answer. I knocked again and turned the doorknob and when I walked in, I didn’t see him anywhere. I even looked all over the rest of the flat in case I had missed him before. He was just…gone. No sign of him or where he’d gone to.”

   


Hermione was more confused than ever. “I don’t get it. That doesn’t sound like Harry at all.” She tried to think of what it was that may have caused him to need immediate escape and suddenly shot another sharp look at Ron. “What _exactly_ did you two chat about?”

   


“Erm…well, we were kind of reminiscing on our old Hogwarts days. You know how we all first met and then he got off onto a Ginny tangent. He talked about seeing her that first day at the train station, and then our second year when we brought him back to the Burrow. We both laughed recalling Ginny as she came barreling down the stairs that morning and was absolutely gob smacked to see Harry at our kitchen table. Then… his face changed when he mentioned how he found her in the Chamber of Secrets. You know, he never really told me exactly how he found her, until this morning.

   


“He said, once he got down there, he saw her body just lying on the ground. She wasn’t moving at all. He ran as fast as he could and thought her dead, when he finally reached her.  When he realized that Tom Riddle had been behind everything, he blamed himself for Riddle even being able to get to Ginny. That’s when he looked at me, in all seriousness, and said ‘Ron, if Voldemort had gotten to her again… I don’t know what I would have done. If I’d lost her…I don’t think I could live…not without her.’”

   


Hermione stood there with her mouth agape. “Why in heaven’s name did you let him start talking about _that_?!”

   


Ron’s eyes grew wider, “I didn’t let him start talking about it; he just kind of…went there. How was I supposed to know that he was going to start talking about all of that? Besides, I told him that everything was ok. He didn’t have to worry about all of that because Voldemort was gone and that danger wasn’t there anymore.”

   


“Well…what did he do when you told him that?”

   


“He just shook his head and said, ‘I guess you’re right mate. No need to worry about all of that anymore.’ That’s when he said he’d better get up and get ready.”

   


“Urgh!” Hermione sounded as she rolled her eyes. “I swear, he better not be pulling another bloody noble hero act on her again, because if he is, she’ll kill him, herself.”

   


She began delegating orders now, “Ron, you go back to the flat, make sure that he didn’t come back and then head to The Leaky Cauldron to see if he’s there. If not, come back here immediately. Charlie, check by the pond, he likes to spend a lot of time there. I’ll go inside to make sure that they don’t get wind of him not being here yet.”

   


They all went in different directions, rushing to find him, in hopes that he didn’t make a stupid mistake.

   


\----------------------

   


Harry always liked the peace and quiet here. It was somewhere he could go and think about whatever was on his mind. Today seemed like a perfect time to visit because there certainly were a lot of things running through his head.

   


The warm sunlight shone on him, as a breeze rustled through the trees. He was standing by the pond in handsome dress robes with his tie hanging undone around his neck while he slowly discarded one flower petal at a time, from the stem he now held in his hand.

   


This day wasn’t turning out as well as he had hoped it would have, so far.  What was wrong with him? _Can I really call this wedding off?_ , he thought.

   


Never in a million years would Harry have ever thought to call off his wedding with Ginny, but after this morning, he couldn’t help but think that was what he had to do. _What if I am putting her in danger by marrying her? I can’t do that to her. She deserves so much more… much more…than me._

   


He pulled off another flower petal and watched it as it floated down onto the water. He saw ripples form, spreading across the pond’s surface and smiled as he remembered one afternoon that he and Ginny spent here.

   


She’d been sitting at the bank of the pond on a blanket that Harry brought.  They just finished a nice little picnic and were now enjoying each other’s company. With both of them working, it was a rare occasion when they could have a day like this, together.  

   


Harry lay next to her, on the blanket, facing her direction.  He had his arms under his head, propping himself up slightly so that he could see her properly, and he smiled, watching her pull a petal off of the flower that was in her hand. He could tell that she was thinking, quite seriously, about something as she observed the petal, holding it in the air, above the water, and letting it go. 

   


Knowing that Harry was watching her, she said, “It’s quite fascinating…watching ripples.”

   


He had a small smirk on his face, “fascinating? Why?”

   


“If you think about it, it only takes one small thing to affect the whole surface. One small touch and the movement can be felt as far as the ripple can be carried.” She paused as he continued watching her, observing every expression on her face, the sun in her hair; she reached out her hand to touch the water, like the flower petal had just done. “It’s the same way with people. One person can affect so many others.” She spoke with such a gentle tone and then took in a breath before continuing. “You have that affect on me, Harry,” she said as she slowly looked into his emerald eyes.

   


Harry sat up, raising his hand to her cheek, caressing it sweetly and then running his fingers through her hair.

   


She saw the longing look that now lay in his eyes and she spoke again. “It doesn’t matter where you are or how strong or weak you may be, I still feel you,” she said, taking his had from her cheek and kissing it tenderly. “I always seem to have this connection with you, like I know when you’re going through something, anything. Even when you were gone, fighting Voldemort, I felt you. You were always with me. You’re always in here,” she smiled as she took his hand and placed it over her heart. “You’re my soul mate, Harry.”

   


He felt her breathing heavily, desire clearly seen in her eyes.  “You’re always here too, Gin,” Harry said, taking her other hand and placing it over his heart. He leaned in kissing her with such intimacy.  

   


After several long moments, she pulled back, with a raised eyebrow and muttered, “And don’t even think about acting all noble-like again. If you try to go, I’m going to go with you. We’re one soul now, you and me. I’ll never let you go.”

   


A smile played on his face as he looked at her, “Don’t worry, love. You couldn’t get rid of me, even if you wanted to.”

   


They both chuckled lightly and suddenly, Harry was back in present day.

   


He blinked trying to bring things back into focus. What had he been thinking, almost calling off the wedding?

   


She was right, of course. They _could_ sense anything the other was feeling. He never took it very seriously, that day that she told him they were soul mates. But right now, he had such an overwhelming feeling of worry in the pit of his stomach that he _knew_ it was what she was feeling at this exact moment; he knew, it had everything to do with him. 

   


A noise came from the brush behind him, startling Harry as he turned to find Charlie. “Charlie? What are you doing here?”

   


“Harry! There you are. I could ask you the same thing you know?” Charlie said, walking over to him. “You’ve got Hermione worried sick. Come on, we need to get you up to the house.”

   


“Er…hang on a minute, Charlie. Does Ginny know about me running off?” Harry asked.

   


Charlie had already starting heading back for the house, but turned around when Harry hadn’t followed. “I don’t think so. Hermione was trying to avoid telling her. Or at least, she was attempting to for as long as she could. Why?”

   


“I don’t know…just a feeling.” Harry shook his head, clearing it. Maybe he was wrong about this worrying feeling.

   


“Well, I know that she did have Hermione owl Ron earlier trying to find out why you weren’t at the house already. You’ll have to ask Hermione when we get back to the house.” Charlie said, picking back up in step.  

   


Harry wasn’t looking forward to facing Hermione, but before he could do that, he had to see Ginny and make sure that she was alright. Doing this, however, would be a difficult task. After all, Mrs. Weasley refused to let him see her before the wedding. Sneaking past her would be hard enough as it is.

   


Harry still hadn’t moved from the spot he was in, when he spoke to Charlie again. “Erm…Charlie?”

   


“Harry, what’s the matter? Why are you still standing there? We need to move; else you’ll have several women on your case for delaying the wedding.”

   


“Charlie…I need your help. I need to see Ginny.” Harry said hesitantly. He knew he was asking a lot of Charlie by this one simple request.

   


He looked back at Harry with an utterly stunned expression. “Are you completely mental? You’re going to get us both hexed!”

   


“Please, Charlie. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t really important. I just need to see her for…a moment. That’s all.” Harry pleaded.

   


“That’s _all_?! You’re asking a hell of a lot.” Charlie bit his cheek, deciding on whether he was going to risk his neck for his future brother in-law. “Fine…but, I have to tell you, the best option that you’ve got is to climb up to her window.”

   


“ _What?!_ ” Harry said looking at him in disbelief.

   


“You want to risk it even more by going through that busy house?” Charlie asked. He saw the answer clearly displayed on Harry’s face, “yeah…I didn’t think so.”

   


“Well…can’t I at least use a broom to just…fly up?” 

   


“Nope, I can tell you that right now. Mum’s put a no-fly charm around the whole house. It’ll knock you straight off your broom if you tried to fly within ten feet of it.”

   


“W-well…” Harry studdered, “…why don’t I just apparate up to her room?” He said, catching Charlie laughing heartily. 

   


“That’s not going to happen either. It’s like Hogwarts around here. No apparating in or out of the house, at least not today.” Charlie smiled at Harry. “She figured you might try getting up to see Ginny.”

   


With a hurt look on his face, Harry tried to think of some way that maybe she’d forgotten. “Well, surely there’s something-.”

   


“Not a thing, Harry. She’s got you covered in every possible way…magically that is. Nothing you try is going to work, unless you try climbing up. Mum doesn’t think like a muggle…much.”

   


“ _Much?!_ Are you telling me there’s a possible chance she’s got some way of keeping me from climbing up?” he asked with concern. 

   


“Well,” Charlie answered, “I know of all the magical ways that she has the house protected. But, my guess is that she didn’t think of stopping you from just climbing up.”

   


Resigning with a sigh, Harry mumbled, “fine,” as he started to follow Charlie.  
  


Once they reached the house, Charlie told him, “Right…all you need to do is climb up the trellis, then go left and edge your way on that piece of wood siding there,” he said, pointing to a thin strip of wood that stuck out from the side of the house.

   


“Not afraid now, are you?” Charlie asked as he saw Harry swallow roughly.

   


“No-,” Harry choked, “not at all.” 

   


He slowly began to climb up the trellis.  Everything was going quite smoothly, so far and his heart lightened with relief. 

   


As he got about half way up, he heard someone say something to him. He looked back down at Charlie, who had his feet firmly planted on the ground. “What’s that? Did you say something?”

   


Charlie looked up at Harry as if he’d lost his mind, “What are you on about? I didn’t say anything.”

   


Harry frowned and turned back, continuing his climb. After only making it a little further up, he heard a voice again. This time, he clearly heard what was being said.  

   


“Think you’re being smart, Mini-Marauder? Better think again…”

   


He whipped his head around, in search of where the voice was coming from. “Wha-?” He looked back at Charlie, trying to see if he was just playing a dirty trick on him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. He was trying to keep a look out in case anyone decided to come around the corner unexpectedly.  

   


Harry shook his head. _I’m losing my mind. Great, just what I need,_ he thought, as he started climbing again. But, the voice didn’t seem to go away.

   


“Harry, if we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a million times…no peeking.”

   


This time, Harry could have sworn that the voice came from a ladybug that had been flying near him. _No, ladybugs don’t talk. I’ve got to get inside before Mrs. Weasley catches me_. But, as he reached his hand further, to pull himself up, the voice came again.

   


“Suit yourself…we’ve warned you…”

   


It _was_ coming from the ladybug. He tried swatting it away, but it just kept coming back. 

   


Finally reaching her window, he was just about to open it when he found a note attached. It read, “ _Nighty Night. Hope you enjoy your nap.”_ And out like a light, Harry went. 

   


He woke up a minute later when Charlie let out with a loud clap right in front of his face.

   


“Wha- what … happened?” Harry asked as Charlie reached down to help him up.

   


“You fell on me, that’s what happened. What made you fall?”

   


“I don’t know. There was some ladybug talking in my ear and then when I got up to Ginny’s window, there was some note attached to it. It said…” he tried recalling the words, “‘Nighty night…hope you enjoy your nap’ and that’s the last thing I remember.” Harry said. He was completely confused as to what had just happened to him.

   


“ _A ladybug was talking to you?”_ Charlie looked up to the window, but saw no note attached. “Are you sure there was a note there Harry?” he said as he looked back down, finding the ladybug that Harry was talking about, swarming around the both of them. 

   


“Ha ha ha! We told you. You should have listened.” With its last words, it flew off. 

   


Charlie rolled his eyes and groaned, “Fred and George; I should have known. But, I thought after the loads of crap that mum had put them through, they never would have sided with her.”

   


Harry wasn’t worried about Fred and George any longer. He was too concerned with his dress robes, which were now dirty from the fall. 

   


“She’s going to kill me.”

   


“Who?”

   


“Gin…my dress robes are filthy.” He said, trying to rid himself of the stains. 

   


“Hold still. I’ll clean you up.” Charlie spoke a couple of cleaning charms and his suit was like new again.

   


“Thanks mate,” Harry said as he admired his clean dress robes. 

   


“Well, I guess that’s the end of the line for your trying. You’ll just have to wait another hour or so until the ceremony starts.” Charlie began to walk back to the house, “we’d better find Hermione and let her know that you’re here.”

   


“Charlie, wait…” Harry said as he ran to catch up with him. “I still need to get up there and see Ginny. I don’t want to wait until the wedding.”

   


He sighed loudly, “Do you ever give up?”

   


“Not when it comes to Ginny, I don’t.” Harry answered honestly.

   


Giving in one last time, Charlie said with a sigh, “fine. But we’re going to have to do this the hard way now. Straight through the house is our only option. We’ll just have to keep a sharp look out. Let’s go around to the front door. We have a greater chance of missing mum that way; she should be in the kitchen.”

   


Harry nodded and followed Charlie around to the front of the house. “Ok, hang back a bit until I give you the signal.”

   


“Ok.”

   


Charlie opened the door and looked around to make sure that the coast was clear. He walked across the hallway to the stairs and motioned for Harry. 

   


Harry walked in cautiously, looking around and was able to make it safely to the stairwell. He let out a sigh of relief and started to climb the stairs behind Charlie, when voices caught them both.

   


“Not trying anything else now are we Harry?”

   


“Yeah, I mean…we wouldn’t want anything else to happen.”

   


Harry and Charlie both turned around to see Fred and George standing there, taunting them.

   


“I’m not trying anything, guys. I’m just trying to find…Hermione.” Harry cleared his throat. “By the way, what did you do to me?!” 

   


“Oh…you like it, do you?” Fred smirked.

   


“It’s a new invention we’re working on…still in the testing phase, of course.” George added.

   


“Yeah, it’s called ‘Hypno-Notes’. Whatever is written on the note causes its reader to do exactly what it says.” 

   


“Right…so if you wanted someone to fall in love with you-” 

   


“…but you don’t want to wait to make a love potion-”

   


“-You just get one of these ‘Hypno-Notes’ that says ‘I love you and I’m so happy that you said that you love me too.’-”

   


“So, you give it to whoever you want to fall in love with you and voila…we’ve got a couple of love birds on our hands.” Fred finished.

   


Realization dawned on Harry. “So, when it said ‘hope you enjoy your nap’, it put me to sleep?”

   


Fred and George both smiled, “Yep.”

   


“Brilliant, right?” asked George.

   


“I think you’re both going to be in big trouble if try to sell those to anyone.” Harry said.

   


“Yeah…well, we have had our fair share of problems with the Ministry over them. They don’t want some of them to get into the wrong hands.”

   


“But they only hypnotize you for a few minutes, that’s all.”

   


“Only a few minutes? I don’t think I would have woken up as quickly as I did had Charlie not…found me and woke me up.” Harry didn’t really like this trick.

   


“No…trust us, you would’ve woken up shortly after-” Fred said apologetically.

   


“-I was the first test subject for the nap note. Only out for five minutes.” George nodded.

   


Charlie interrupted the conversation to which Harry was quite thankful. “Well, I’m sure Harry would love to hear more about this, but we’ve got to find Hermione and then he’s got to finish getting ready for the wedding. And, I believe you two have some chairs to finish setting up. Am I right?” he said pulling Harry along.

   


Fred and George both frowned at Charlie and muttered, “yeah, yeah.”

   


“Try not to get into any more trouble Harry, alright?”

   


“Yeah, we’d prefer you alive when you marry our baby sister.”

   


They walked away laughing heartily as Harry pleaded, under his breath, that they didn’t have any more tricks up their sleeves for him. 

   


Charlie and Harry were finally able to make it up the stairs to Ginny’s room without any further interruptions. It was a good thing that they were able to bypass Mrs. Weasley completely; Fred and George were hard enough to escape from.

   


“Ok…I’m going to peek in and see if Hermione is in Ginny’s room. She should be. So, you hide in this closet until I can get her downstairs.”

   


“How exactly do you plan on doing that?” Harry asked.

   


“You just leave it to me. But, once you’ve finished talking to Ginny about what it is that is so gosh darn important that you had to see her before the wedding, head down to the kitchen, that is after you tidy yourself up completely,” Charlie said looking at Harry’s hair, “…that’s where I’m sending Hermione. Got it?”

   


Harry nodded as he opened the nearest closet door and stepped in.

   


“Leave it open just a little so that you can hear when Hermione and I leave.”

   


“Ok,” he said, closing the door but leaving it slightly ajar. He heard Charlie walk down the hallway to Ginny’s room and knock on the door. Then, he heard his voice, muffled, as he asked for Hermione. A moment later, Harry heard Hermione’s shoes, as she walked out of the room and into the hallway, closing a door behind her.

   


“I found Harry,” he heard Charlie say, “out by the pond, just like you said.” Harry cursed. Hermione knew him too well.  

   


“Thank Merlin. Well, where is he?” Hermione said shrilly.

   


“He’s in the bathroom. He still had a bit of getting ready to do but he should be out shortly. He said as soon as he’s done, he’ll meet you in the kitchen to see if you or Mrs. Weasley needed him to do anything else.”

   


“Fine. I’d better find Ron too and tell him that we’ve found Harry. Thanks for your help Charlie,” Hermione said, giving him a warm hug.

   


“No problem. Well, since that’s taken care of, I’ll walk down with you to the kitchen. I’ve got to head back outside to make sure that Fred and George aren’t tearing things to pieces. You can’t leave them unsupervised for one moment; I don’t know how they manage to run a shop, much less do it quite successfully.”

   


Harry heard them laugh and then listened more closely as the sound of their footsteps faded away. Once he couldn’t hear them any longer, Harry opened the door slowly and peeked around the hallway. There was no one around, much to his delight. 

   


He walked quietly down the hallway to Ginny’s door and knocked on it lightly.

   


“Who is it?” he heard her call.

   


Harry turned the doorknob and said, “it’s me, Gin.”

   


“Harry?” she said as her face lit up with a smile and her breathing became quick.

   


He started opening the door, “yeah…I’m coming in-”

   


“ _No!_ ” Ginny ran to the door and pushed it shut quickly. As she did, Harry’s head hit it and he let out with a muffled groan.

   


“Ow…” he said, biting his lip, trying his best not to give himself away. “What did you do that for?”

   


Ginny spoke through the door. “Harry, you know you can’t see me before the wedding.”

   


He grumbled, “yeah. So I’ve been told. I’ve tried everything I could think of to get up here to talk to you.”

   


A smile playing on her small face, “you did?”

   


“Yeah. Charlie tried helping me, but then I fell off the trellis, no thanks to your brothers.”

   


“Are you ok?” she asked frantically. 

   


“Well, I was doing ok until you hit me in the head just now.”

   


“Sorry, Harry. I know it’s a stupid tradition, but I don’t want to jinx anything. Mum would be proud to know that I’ve finally come around to seeing her side of things.”

   


He smirked at Ginny’s comment, but quickly moved on, “Listen Gin, I’ve got to make this quick before anyone finds out where I am. I just wanted to make sure that you were ok. I got this strange feeling that you weren’t doing too well; like you were worried or something.”

   


“You could say that,” she said half laughing. “I was worried about you. Hermione said that you hadn’t made it here yet, so I had her owl Ron to find out what was going on. Where were you Harry?”

   


“I just needed some time to myself to think things over; that’s all. So, I apparated over to the pond.” He heard her take in a quivering breath.

   


“Your not…n-not backing out are you…Harry?”

   


“No, Gin. No. I could never leave you. I’m sorry if I scared you. I just needed to get some fresh air before everyone smothered me again.” He sighed, “I never knew weddings involved so much.”

   


She laughed weakly, “I know what you mean. With everything going on today, the only thing that I really wanted, I couldn’t have. All I wanted was you, Harry. I’m so glad that you’re here.”

   


“Gin, there’s no place that I’d rather be than with you,” he said as he tried opening the door again.

   


“Harry! No. I already told you that you can’t come in.” She was trying to push back on the door to close it.

   


“I won’t come in; I promise. Just stop pushing on the door for a second, ok?”

   


When he felt her stop trying to force the door to close, he opened it a little more and reached his hand through the opening. “Give me your hand.”

   


She brought her hand slowly to his, and felt his warm embrace as he locked his fingers with hers.

   


“Gin, I love you and you are about to make me the happiest man on earth. In an hour, I’m going to stand downstairs and see the most beautiful woman walk down the aisle and take my hand, just like this. I’m going to look into your beautiful brown eyes and give my entire life to you and only you.” He felt her squeeze his hand slightly and smiled because he knew that she was too overcome with emotions to speak.

   


She wiped a tear away and sniffled quietly, “I love you Harry. You always seem to know exactly what I need.”

   


“Well, you did say that we were soul mates.”

   


She giggled lightly, “yeah, I did.”

   


Harry pulled her hand up slightly, as he lowered his head to give it a gentle kiss. He could just imagine her face, flushed and smiling lovingly. Oh how he desperately wanted to see her, but he respected her wishes.

   


“Gin…I’m going to head downstairs now. I’ll see you soon, ok?”

   


“Ok,” she said, barely letting his hand go. “I love you.”

   


“I love you too,” and down the stairs he went as she closed the door to finish getting ready.

   


\-----------------------

<


End file.
